The NHS is 75... Who Gives?

 

The Oxford Mail has published a special sixteen-page supplement in its daily journal celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the National Health Service. It is sixteen pages, but it is infested with ads; and it says nothing original at all. It is simply a parade of healthcare providers in their best uniforms smiling like waxworks for the camera. There is also a history lesson of how the NHS came about in 1948 as a result of tireless work by the Minister of Health at the time. I consider Aneurin Bevan a sincere person. He was from a poor mining family in south Wales and wanted genuinely to improve the lives of the working class. He said: "The collective principle asserts that... no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means." and I agree with him. The problem is that over the three quarters of a century since, his grand artwork has mutated into some kind of hideous monster like Dorian Grey's portrait. I will not repeat myself in this article, but simply refer you to the background links below. I remember the sixtieth NHS birthday fifteen years ago because I was one of the guests of honour at Oxford Town Hall, see:  https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2018/06/nhs-seventieth-anniversary.html. There's nothing more really I can add except to say I don't care about this anniversary timestamp and I don't think we have anything to celebrate.
See here for background: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2014/07/allyson-pollock-at-tedx.html.
And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2016/03/national-health-singers-yours.html.
And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2023/01/nhs-winter-crisis-2023.html.
And: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-gas-spanner-programme-49.html.