Peter Bone: NHS “would not be out of place in Stalin’s Russia”.
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Peter Bone: NHS “would not be out of place in Stalin’s Russia”.
Copyblogger theme design by Chris Pearson | Hosted by ENTANET
2 comments ↓
I am an NHS nurse and have been so since 1964, which must make me one of the longest serving NHS nurses in the country. Since Stalin was one of the worst mass-murderers in history, I find rermarks like this quite remarkably offensive. The NHS is very far from perfect, but we aren’t as bad as all that. One of the disadvantages of working for the NHS is that, because it is so huge, there is always somebody somewhere who is neglecting or ill treating patients, and although that is terrible, we aren’t all like that. I recently read one blog saying that NHS staff are “rude”. What – all of us? I’m feeling a little punch drunk. Another thing that worries me, really, is that, after all these years working in the NHS it looks as though, when I’m finally over the hill myself, there’s a good chance that the government will be in the hands of Peter Bone and the rest. I wish people understood how much the NHS has improved over the years. For all the problems we have now, the service is far more humane and responsive than when I entered it. I have some chilling memories of what can only be described as patient cruelty – this is not the place to recount them (and anyway, I’m busy!). Peoples’ expectations have risen now, and rightly so, and grievances are aired on the media so everyone hears about them, but I really think things are getting better.
I was a GP from 1959 to 1985. I always felt the NHS flawed, based on false premises as it was, and even worse imposed healthcare from the centre, patients being social units not individuals, and the consequences are becoming ever more ominous with bodies like NICE.
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