NOT SO BAD
I've had a cough for a few weeks. Annoying, restricting, constricting, sometimes even painful. It seemed to be going at one point, but returned with fresh impetus. So it seemed like I should consult a health professional.
Yesterday morning, around 10.30, I called our GP surgery. The receptionist asked for my symptoms. I asked to speak to my usual GP if at all possible. She checked the schedule. He would call me back that afternoon.
Which he did, around 2. We talked for at least 10 minutes, going through my experience and symptoms in detail, he explained what was going on, and told me he'd prescribe a nasal spray, which he gave clear instructions on how to use. The relevant slip would be at the desk within 10 minutes.
Half an hour later I was up there, given the slip (top of the pile, handily) and went to our local pharmacy. Yes, they had the spray in stock, and off I walked with it in my bag. I took the first treatment last night before bed.
Which is, you may think, as it should be. That's how a socialised health service works. You want medical help, you call up, you get the help. Yet if you read the Cassandras on social media out there, what took place is something that never happens in reality. Our NHS, and especially the Scottish NHS if you believe the SNP-hater brigade, is collapsing, unable to function, not meeting needs.
Of course you can't extrapolate the state of an entire national public service based on one experience. And I don't pretend to. However the story above is broadly reflective of what both Barbara and I have encountered in our dealings with the health service over the past few years, when we've both had a few issues with our bodies. No doubt there are areas of the service that are underfunded, understaffed, overstretched. That variability covers both different functions of the service, and geographic differences. Other patients would be able to extrapolate very different conclusions from their personal experiences.
But that's the thing. Just because one person, or even a hundred, has a negative encounter with the NHS (especially if they are politically inclined towards looking for faults...), or the same for those with positive results, doesn't tell a complete story. The NHS isn't perfect. But it can, at times, function perfectly, as above. It is not collapsing. It is not completely the wrong approach (how can anyone - yes fascists of Deform, I'm looking at you - suggest that we follow the iniquities and exploitations of the US 'system'...?). And yes, it is very much worth preserving (albeit whilst evolving and improving).
I love our NHS. We need to protect it.
