The NHS is sick but we can all help it get better

In My View: The NHS is sick but we can all help it get better

You see, I had a brain haemorrhage which had the potential to kill me if I didn’t receive treatment. The NHS provided this expensive treatment free of charge through one of the world’s best brain surgeons, an Irishman named O’Sullivan.

I must admit my alarm when he told me he had never lost anyone on the operating table and said “touch wood” while placing a hand on the metal drip holder that was feeding me.

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My mother also takes great delight in telling people she thinks Mr O’Sullivan put a brain in my head during the operation, or the fact the surgery took longer than normal was because they had trouble locating my brain.

But the reason I am writing this column is no laughing matter. This national institution is under threat from a Tory government, neo liberals and big business who are determined to privatise it.

It’s already happening, parts of the NHS are privatised and the government is starving the service of cash.

The cynic in me believes this is deliberate, resulting in a service that is not fit for purpose, and when it is eroded even further people will probably just be resigned to say, “Aw well, it’s rubbish anyway, maybe it should be privatised”.

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Before we get to that stage though, and before things get even worse for the NHS, we need to fight for more funding and a 21st century service that works best for society’s needs.

Pressure groups like 38 Degrees have online petitions to save the NHS. Please sign them and do what you can to show that we care too. It is a matter of life and death.

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