Happy 70th Birthday NHS!

neandermagnon

Nolite timere, consilium callidum habeo!
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https://www.theguardian.com/society...birthday-staff-patients-celebrate-anniversary
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Birth-of-the-NHS/
https://www.nhs70.nhs.uk/


Massive thank you to the NHS and everyone who works and/or volunteers for the NHS, past or present, for saving my life, my mum's life, my kids' lives and everyone else whose lives you've saved and made healthier.

I'm aware of recent criticism of the NHS. There's nothing wrong with the NHS that can't be fixed with better funding. The statistics don't take into account the fact that in healthcare systems that require patients or their insurance companies to pay, the very poorest won't be in the hospitals at all while the NHS will treat everyone from the long-term homeless to the royal family. The number of staff (not enough) relative to the number of patients is a genuine concern. That's down to under funding and the Tories are to blame for that, but to give May credit where it's due, she has pledged to put more money in, including the money promised by the "leave" campaign that the country's allegedly going to save as a result of Brexit, and money from an increased tax to the over 40s to fund health and social care for the elderly. I'm old enough to pay this tax and will pay it gladly because I'd rather pay more tax than live in a country where the poorest and most vulnerable are left to die from preventable causes because they can't afford to pay for treatment.

Here's to the next 70 years and forever!
 

LittlePinto

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The NHS is truly what I will miss most about the UK. It's better not to have that constant low-grade stress that if I'm seriously injured or ill, I won't be able to afford treatment. It's better to be able to get something checked out and taken care of while it's a little problem instead of hoping it'll clear up on its own and letting it become a big problem.

I expect if more USAians spent enough time living in places with this type of system, fewer would accept what we have. Compared to the NHS, the US system is simply barbaric.

Happy birthday to the NHS! May it have many more.
 

talktidy

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I remember a documentary about the NHS, which was on the Beeb a while ago, in which it mentioned that working men likely had some form of healthcare related to their workplace. There was no cover for women, however. As a result, in the first years of the NHS women presented at clinics with chronic medical conditions they had been living with for years.

My own health is pretty awful. If we had US style medical care, I probably would be dead by now.

Not so long ago a Tory dickhead went on US tv - Fox probably - and slagged off the NHS. I have seldom been angrier.
 

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?
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Yep.

I'm scheduled for a gall bladder removal op shortly - keyhole surgery...in and out of NHS in one day - and to have it done privately (locally) could cost up to £6,500!

Having recently spent over a week in the local NHS Infirmary and witnessed the NHS staff in action I have nothing but praise and admiration for them all.

One of the best things this country ever did for its citizens. My late father, mother, and two sisters, all received excellent care from the NHS.

Without it, I, too, would probably not be here. I would willingly pay a tax contribution to the NHS.

Thank you NHS.:Hug2:
 

JimmyB27

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Without it, I, too, would probably not be here. I would willingly pay a tax contribution to the NHS.

I haven't been to a doctor in about fifteen years, and I've certainly never needed anything life saving from the NHS. I am still 100% happy to be paying for it though.
 

waylander

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For the last 4 years I've had waaay too much contact with the NHS from in-patient treatment in isolation wards to PET scans and a cochlear implant, it has all been of a high standard. I'm currently being treated with a fantastically expensive drug (which is working well, thanks for asking) which would have blown the roof off any insurance plan.
 

frimble3

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One of my favourite parts of the London Olympics was the tribute to the NHS. Seldom has something so useful and practical been celebrated on such a public scale.
 

neandermagnon

Nolite timere, consilium callidum habeo!
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My kids have had to go to hospital for various things - one has anaphyaxsis and epipens, the other has severe asthma (currently under good control thanks to the three different medications she has for it), they both play rugby and they're both the kind of kids that will climb to the top of something just to see if they can. One of them recently had a medical scare when something was found that looked very sinister and she had to have an MRI scan of her brain and other urgent investigations. Turned out to be nothing too serious (thankfully!!).

Thing is, in all of this, my only financial worry is making sure I can pay for the car park.

At the local hospital you can pay by credit card but at the larger hospital in the next town, you have to pay by cash. When we did the MRI scan they let me go in with her because she was scared, and because MRI involves huge magnets you have to empty your pockets of everything metal before you go in. Including the huge pile of pound coins I had in my pocket... "your car park doesn't take cards, okay?" lol. I had about 25 quid in pound coins.

But when you factor in having no worries at all about how you're going to pay for the treatment, finding cash for the car park pales into insignificance. When you or someone in your family is ill, you have enough to worry about without the additional worry of how you're going to pay for it all or whether your insurance company's going to cover it or how much excess they're going to charge you.
 

Bacchus

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currently being treated with a fantastically expensive drug (which is working well, thanks for asking) which would have blown the roof off any insurance plan.

At the other end of the scale, the NHS recently stopped my mother's prescription for "Viteyes" - a fantastically cheap drug which she has been taking for a couple of years to combat age-related macular degeneration. We are luckily enough to be able to afford to buy this stuff - it's about fifty quid for three months's supply - but the dear old mother halved her dose to eke out her supply when it was stopped and her vision has taken a big turn for the worse. Can she link it to the reduced dose of lutein - hell no, it's hardly a clinical trial, but her vision won't recover.

I am happy to pay so that the available funds can be pushed towards more serious (and expensive!) problems, but this little "wobble" has now compromised the independence of a fiercely independent woman, and one of a decreasing number of people who actually helped to elect the government which created the NHS in the first place, which is a pity because I have nothing but admiration and praise - the NHS is simply brilliant and the more you need it, the more brilliant it is!