Have you or a loved one worked in the NHS as Staff or Volunteer? Had a life changing operation funded though the NHS? Positive or Negative experience with the NHS system?
I have never lived outside the UK and can’t say I’ve ever lived outside the right of free healthcare but hearing stories of individuals needing to fundraise their own surgery makes me realize I take for granted just how much peace of mind the NHS gives me.
At the same token several news reports are suggesting that the NHS is crumbling under it’s own weight so it’s possible it may not reach 100. It’s clear that the NHS as it is currently is not viable for it’s own long term health. More will need to be done to keep the NHS publicly funded.
NHS saved the sight in my left eye following a horrendous viral infection about 20 years ago. It was the first time I remember feeling in absolute awe of a system that got me from GP to Consultant to urgent treatment and back to health with abolsutely nothing to pay; totally incredible.
I’m also old enough to remember family GPs, no telephone queues for an appointment at 8am and not being made to feel that you are nothing more than an incovenience.
I would vote for a truly competent government of any colour that could drag the NHS out of its grave and make it the thriving, efficient and well-resourced organisiation that we all deserve it to be.
That said, I’m hugely skeptical that the NHS is coming back from what appears to be a managed decline; even Tony Blair was in the news recently saying that he thinks there should be an expanded role for the private sector in healthcare - and I think that the New Labour government did really good things with the NHS; certainly from a point of use perspective.
Instead, what I now understand about private medical insurance is that they won’t cover pre-existing conditions, so (and I’m sorry to say), my strong advice to all you healthy young people of the fediverse is to take-out some private health insurance now; when you don’t need it, to ensure that you can get the prompt medical treatment you need later in life when shit starts going wrong.
The private insurance contract renews yearly. If you develop a new condition, they will increase your fees next year by an arbitrary amount or can refuse your renewal.