Will you still love me tomorrow?

[Cateran]

Just now the nation is in a love-in with the NHS, or so the media barons will have us believe. However, when the tryst is over and the plague defeated, how soon will it take for the NHS to become a "millstone around our necks" and health workers bringing the country down with their unreasonable wage demands, etc...? Carole King's lyrics may resonate more with us than we may have guessed when it's all over, and we are left with the...consequences.

[Corin1950]

For anyone who’s interested read the history of the NHS

historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/H...

Before this happened i would say that most people valued the NHS and this whole episode has highlighted how important it is to us and increased awareness of the dedication of its staff. In international league tables our health service is considered the best in the world however as with all systems there are faults and there has also been much underfunding and cost cutting.

Some of the staff in the NHS are notoriously underpaid and that’s why there’s a problem recruiting nurses etc with many hospitals relying on staff from overseas.

I would never describe the NHS as a millstone round our necks. It should be the Jewel in Our Crown.

Take care

X

[skischool in reply to Corin1950]

Somehow i think Cateran was referring to our fickle press who have used those expressions in the past and will most likely use them again in the future when all this is over.

I like Jewel in the Crown but i prefer Health for the Humble. x

[Cateran in reply to Corin1950]

I totally agree with your last sentence Corin. Cynics might add: Some Jewel. Some Crown. I am not a cynic but an unrepentant Bevanite.

[Carnival567 in reply to Corin1950]

When I had heart surgery aged 17 in 1961 I can remember my father saying “Thank God for the NHS, I could never have afforded this”. Says it all really. Without the NHS I would have died at about 20. Now there are more adults with congenital heart disease than children.

[Corin1950 in reply to Carnival567]

Yes I can see how the NHS is literally close to your heart. Pre NHS my dad’s younger brother, only in his teens, died from a shoulder injury. They called out the local quack and I don’t really know what happened . Must have got pneumonia. What a tragedy and there must have been so many like him.

Take good care of yourself

X

[Badbessie]

After the announcements yesterday concerning the triage system for who gets treatment. I believe there are going to be a lot of angry families out there who have lost loved ones. Obviously there are going to be consequences but in ways that I do not think the government as thought about. This as only just started and we are nowhere near the peak yet and yes everybody does love the NHS at the moment but I have a feeling both the attitude towards them and Boris could change.

[Cateran in reply to Badbessie]

Quite right Badbessie. My case isn't altered concerning the manipulation of public opinion by the media, which some might term populism. Demagogic politicians are very thick skinned, so any perceived adverse criticism of Boris and his sidekicks Matt and Dominic, will probably bounce off them.

[O2Trees]

I love Carole King but this is my favourite version:

youtube.com/watch?v=3irmBv8...(Not working as expected?)

[Cateran in reply to O2Trees]

Great number O2Trees but the video wasn't available though I have watched it before a few times. Very memorable.

[O2Trees in reply to Cateran]

Hmmm, I'll see what I can do, shame about that.

[O2Trees]

Isnt it the government who will see the NHS as a millstone when this is finished, not the people?

[Cateran in reply to O2Trees]

Yes Trees, couldn't agree more, although the people are somewhat gullible, at times, and believe that a free gift is something that you get for nothing.

[O2Trees in reply to Cateran]

Cant really blame people when we have a mainstream media so totally committed to establishment values. Unless you go digging, or belong to a party with different values, it's hard to see beneath the PR.

[Troilus]

I heard an item on the news yesterday, although I haven’t seen it widely reported, that the government has written off all nhs debt. The commentator said that this will leave the nhs in a much better position once this epidemic is over as they were paying interest on it.

I wonder if they will keep all of these new ventilators and breathing apparatus they are getting?

[dembonesDAMNBONES in reply to Troilus]

I heard it was just the interest that's been written off, not the entire debt.

I must look it up and will get back to you.

[dembonesDAMNBONES in reply to Troilus]

You're absolutely right and I stand corrected.

£13.4 billion written off, according to a govt update yesterday.

[dembonesDAMNBONES]

Often, the very nurses leaving return...working for an agency at a higher pay rate!

Obviously the agencies charge more, which clearly indicates the cash was there all along.

Note to self: Ask who, in a roundabout way, owns the agencies. 😉

[Corin1950 in reply to dembonesDAMNBONES]

Health Professionals do get a much higher daily rate than staff on contract but they’re not entitled to holiday pay, sick pay, maternity benefits etc. The agencies however do take a big cut too.

X

[dembonesDAMNBONES]

Thanks for completing the picture, Corin1950.

I commented on what I remembered, from a radio 4 programme, around three or four years ago, so knew the agencies took their slice, but that the agency nurses were better off than their NHS collegues, although I guess it kind of balances out, when you consider the benefits, although agency get paid overtime, when it appears NHS nurses are emotionally blackmailed by the govt into putting in countless hours of unpaid overtime.

Let's hope, when the current situation abates, that the public get behind all NHS staff and ensure their efforts are justly reward for this situation, past and all future service.