From today's Independent:
Ian Birrell: Why I don't believe that the NHS is sacrosanct
"In this heartfelt polemic, based on his family's experiences in the health service, our writer argues that it suffers from deep flaws – and we are wrong to ignore them."
Ian Birrell's article is worth reading.
Speaking at the AGM of a parent information charity here in Sheffield, I once recounted the experiences of a family with a disabled child, much as Ian Birrell does here. My account, offered as an example of broader issues that needed to be addressed, angered a respected local paediatrican in the audience. Indeed, she threatened to walk out and withdraw her support from the charity. "We can all tell horror stories", were her very words. Thus, the awful experiences of this one family, and with them the attempt to start a broader debate, were obstructed.
We in the UK, of course, have the best health service in the world. It has reached a peak of evolutionary perfection from which no further improvement is required and therefore comment is superfluous - just "horror stories", or, as the GP father of an autistic child says in the first Comment below Ian Birrell's article, "I think you have been dealt a lousy hand , but the NHS is not to blame" before blathering on, to blame 'the worried well' (ie his/her patients. I am reminded of the old school teachers joke that it would be a great job if it wasn't for the pupils.)
When our political leaders rush to defend the NHS (and their parties) from the transitory remarks of an MEP in "the silly season" for news, then the experience of families like Ian Birrell's provides a salutory reminder that "For all the rhetoric, this is daily reality in our health service".