Protect our NHS

This was one of the many lovely tributes I’ve seen to the NHS in recent weeks. My daughter and I thought it looked so pretty when we stumbled across it in the park, at the end of our bike-run & she decided to add a heart at the end of the picture to express her own appreciation, too.

I want to avoid expressing too much political opinion here but since politics has such a prolific impact on our lives (whether we choose to acknowledge this fact or not), it’s sometimes necessary.

The plain facts are that our beloved NHS is struggling because it has been stretched and underfunded in every way possible and beyond its limits for years and years... It is in the state that it is in because of the actions of our current government. This nation’s voting public seemed to be lulled into some false sense of security... Why? I personally can’t fathom why a government that is only concerned with representing the few should have maintained a stronghold in office for so long.

Oh, the irony that the very same people who are throwing money at a tired & aching old veteran who is walking for our NHS are those who voted to keep underfunding the service in the first place!

I sincerely hope that we see a huge turnaround in government policy towards the funding of public services from now on. Whilst tributes such as these are beautiful and heart-warming, let’s not forget (if we weren’t doing before) that now, more than ever, we need to reject ridiculously misplaced notions of ‘austerity’. What a silly word! I firmly believe our government is able to fund this service adequately; I just hope it will now be prepared to do so.