The Jewel in our Crown

There is an irony, probably not lost on the Right Honourable Jeremy Hunt, MP, Minister of Health, that when he was Culture Secretary, he was apparently responsible for doubling the budget for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games. A significant part of that superb event was devoted to a celebration of the wonderful National Health Service we have been privileged to enjoy in this country since 1948.

But Jeremy Hunt seems hell-bent on dismantling an institution that every single one of us in this country benefits from.

Item: as detailed elsewhere in this blog, my own GP surgery, rated outstanding last year by the Care Quality Commission, is about to lose one third of its funding. As a result, the four most senior partners in the practice have no other choice than to resign, effective June this year.

Item: a friend of mine has a son who is a practicing oncologist, and a daughter who is a nurse, also married to a senior consultant. All of them, without exception, declare that the NHS is in crisis and they fear for its long-term survival.

Item: a nurse in the GP practice where my mother is registered is, herself, registered with my GP. She too confirms the view that the NHS is teetering on the brink.

Item: anyone who has been unfortunate enough to have to visit an A&E department, particularly on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night, will have endured the awful and interminable waiting, simply because the service is at saturation point and close to collapse.

Item: whatever are the details of the conflict over the Junior Doctors’ contracts, to impose these contracts on the doctors is an act so crass, so stupid and so entirely devoid of common sense, that one wonders whether Jeremy Hunt has entirely taken leave of all of his senses.

It is clear to anyone who considers the problem for longer than five minutes, that the NHS is under huge stress. Yet who cannot say, who has recently had the need of their GP, or treatment at hospital, that with very few exceptions, the service they have received has been exemplary.

We really need to wake up. A functioning NHS is not negotiable Mr Hunt. We have an ageing population as a consequence of the ongoing success of the NHS. More exotic treatments and drugs are becoming available all the time and they are expensive, and the population is increasing. But immigrants pay their taxes, and are entitled, along with everyone else, to expect a health service free at the point of treatment.

Whatever one says about Blair, and there is a lot I could say that would get me into trouble, his government massively increased funding to the NHS. We must accept that a viable health service is essential in a civilized world and it has to be paid for. If that means raising taxes, then so be it. Put it to the country in a referendum. It would be an infinitely better use of resources than the endless bickering about leaving Europe. I would bet real money that more than 70% of the population would vote for a tax increase to support a viable National Health Service.

Oh, and for goodness sake, sack Hunt. Apparently he speaks Japanese. There must be a job for him at the British Embassy in Tokyo. After all, what possible harm could he do there?