Happy 70th Birthday

[rodcurrie]

To our NHS,i reckon most folk will have used this magnificent service(even the ten bob Tory wannabe's),i know my family have and i will be forever grateful to Mr Bevan.UTCB

[FatherKnowsBest]

At its best, it is a magnificent achievement, the envy of the world. It achieves countless miracles every day and this country would be third world without it.

At its worst it is over-managed, over-bloated and inefficient to the point of ceasing to function. Our expectations as citizens have changed from 'Heath' to 'Wellbeing' and it has become the catch-all for all of lifes issues. A bottomless bucket.

NB. The private sector couldn't imagine how to put it right. It requires significant political changes, and a societal change of attitude on a tange of topics as wide apart as treatment in old age, and food manufacturing/marketing. Tories want to sell it off so they can top up their pension pots, Labour wouldn't dare do anything other than chuck even more money in. It will never get the overhaul it needs and deserves.

[Carpe_diem]

At its best, it is a magnificent achievement, the envy of the world. It achieves countless miracles every day and this country would be third world without it.

At its worst it is over-managed, over-bloated and inefficient to the point of ceasing to function. Our expectations as citizens have changed from 'Heath' to 'Wellbeing' and it has become the catch-all for all of lifes issues. A bottomless bucket.

NB. The private sector couldn't imagine how to put it right. It requires significant political changes, and a societal change of attitude on a tange of topics as wide apart as treatment in old age, and food manufacturing/marketing. Tories want to sell it off so they can top up their pension pots, Labour wouldn't dare do anything other than chuck even more money in. It will never get the overhaul it needs and deserves.

I agree with everything here apart from the stereotypes about the political parties. Other than that, though, spot on.

[BlockD]

A wonderful service, Happy Birthday NHS,I for one am so glad you are there for us all

[bladesince64]

My identical twin grandsons were born prematurely in Jessops Hospital weighing just over 2lb each.They were in incubators on life support for 12 weeks and they had tubes to breathe,feed etc. They are now 18 months old and are happy, healthy boisterous little boys with (miraculously) no health issues. I have nothing but admiration,respect and gratitude for the wonderful nursing staff of the NHS and particularly the neo natal unit at Jessops.

[CHIPBUTTYBLADE]

I think i was born at home,cant remember the event tho.

[shorehamoldboy]

happy 70th nhs saved me twice thank you

[Ayamonteblade]

I agree with everything here apart from the stereotypes about the political parties. Other than that, though, spot on.

Agreed also, although I just cannot see how it can continue to function to meet increasing demand without bankrupting the country??

[Carpe_diem]

Agreed also, although I just cannot see how it can continue to function to meet increasing demand without bankrupting the country??

This is a worrying question Aya and one that I can't see an answer to. It's such a sensitive subject that it's hard to suggest how necessary changes could be made without the fear that it would be seen as an attack on the very foundations of the NHS itself.

[FatherKnowsBest]

I was involved (in a minor way) with the original projects for computerising the NHS (NPfIT), which if anyone wants an example of a complete cock-up and a waste of £12bn, its right there. We could all see it, but there was an arrogance in the project team that they wanted to award one grandious contract instead of what they should have done which was to create a specification for the electronic patient record (in itself a seriously non-trivial task, as you may have to pull in data from dentists and physios and psychiatrists as well as clinical, surgery and GP's) and put the infrastructure layers in place, and let the software suppliers get on with it.

Anyway, we should all be a bit concerned that its predominantly US software and system that are in place (even though as LST says they can't talk to each other. The last thing I want to see is a bigger swing to US companies. Its more and more cash leaving the country while consultants show us how to do it. A lot of management really needs to be torn down and re-done, but its the NHS and in many peoples eyes can't be touched.

The uncomfortable truth is that if you are costing the NHS £1 aged 40, then when you are 80 you are costing the NHS £9. As much as we all want to stay around as long as possible, is a hip replacement at age 82 really good value for the nation..? (I'm so glad I don't have to make these decisions...). Likewise, we see new wonder drugs coming through extending peoples lives, but one recently at a cost of £100k for maybe another six months of life. Can we afford that..?

The simple fact is that just because we can shouldn't mean that we should. We could cut lots of costs by reducing obesity by snapping the leash on food manufacturers, but a lot of the poor quality processed food is eaten by poor people, many career benefit claimants, and lots working unsociable hours for low wages. The message from the middle class is 'eat healthy', but we are bombarded with the wall of marketing of the exact opposite, and lifestyles kill the rest of the good intentions for many people.

And, why are we doing this..? To afford somewhere to live. When I first started buying houses you got 3x his and 1x hers over 25 years and that was that. Now 7x joint for 35 years, even longer in some cases, stripping disposable income out of the economy. Poor people spend money locally in the shops and pubs, and seeing so many of them closing is a huge red flag, if only anyone could give a toss. We need to build affordable council or publicly owned housing in large amounts a million a year for the term of a government, but then it will affect the value of your home today and what Daily Mail reader would be happy with that..?

Back to the NHS. As I said earlier the emphasis has become the National Wellness Service, and I don't think we have a right to expect that, just like we shouldn't expect to be maintained medically when we reach average lifespan. But who's going to get elected on that message..?