The Scots have engaged in politics , so why haven’t the English on the NHS ?
I’m passionate about the NHS , but most of you claim to be too .
Everyone I speak to think it’s disgraceful how , without a mandate , the Coalition Government is privatizing by stealth one of the institutions that defines what it is to be British.
So how are we allowing this to happen ?
There are over a quarter of a million doctors in the UK , and 150,000 belong to the BMA.
Yet those fighting for the NHS such as the NHS Consultants’ Association , Keep Our NHS Public , the NHS Support Federation and the National Health Action Party have relatively small memberships.
If the rest truly believe something vital may be lost , then why aren’t doctors more outspoken and active ?
I’ve retired after 30 years as a GP and can fully understand the battle-weariness , fatigue and apathy that holds my colleagues back. Most are too busy with the day job . The insidious 25 year plot nibbling away at the NHS has been clever. Each small step towards commercialization has , on it’s own , appeared too insignificant to fight or to make a stand . But the whole disastrous picture is nearly complete.
Many defeatists say it’s too late to change. Others seem only too happy to let someone else fight for their “principles”. Some are still in denial thinking all this is paranoia.
Is it that they think , like motherhood and apple pie , the NHS which we have also all grown up with , just can’t possibly disappear ? Is it simply that a new generation who have no idea what life without an NHS would be like thinks that it’s demise can’t be as bad as is made out ?
How many of our colleagues selfishly see themselves getting richer in a private system ? No doubt some but they are deluded and in for a nasty shock. A few marketeers are on the Boards of CCGs and may be promoting their own companies. For others it may genuinely be ideological , after all we have in our profession our fair share of “swivel-eyed loonies”
I believe the lukewarm critical engagement by our leaders when the Health and Social Care Bill was published is responsible for our present predicament . A few of us charged into battle , looked over our shoulders and realized there was no-one following.
The 100TH anniversary of World War One has reminded us of that poster that said “ What did you do in the Great War , Daddy ?”
If you want to be able to tell your grandchildren what you did to save the NHS , you’d better get cracking.
kentnhap 