Thank you NHS...

The collective principle asserts that the resources of medical skill and the apparatus of healing shall be placed at the disposal of the patient, without charge, when he or she needs them; that medical treatment and care should be a communal responsibility that they should be made available to rich and poor alike in accordance with medical need and by no other criteria. It claims that financial anxiety in time of sickness is a serious hindrance to recovery, apart from its unnecessary cruelty. It insists that no society can legitimately call itself civilized if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means” (Nye Bevan: In Place of Fear A Free Health Service [1952])

So…a brief personal story…and why the NHS, despite its shortcomings, needs to be treasured, and funded for the good of all.

Last Monday my heart stopped briefly, and my wife Lesley, daughter Emma and her partner Dean performed CPR until the ambulance arrived. (South Central Ambulance Service, NHS Foundation Trust). From there I was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital , although in truth I can’t remember much of what happened between then and today when I finally appeared to have managed to master the art of remembering things and holding them in my head for more than a nano second…

The fact that I’m typing this is without doubt a testament to Lesley, Emma, Dean and the NHS…and to the vision of Nye Bevan.