The amazing thing about the NHS (“If British identity is bound up with the NHS, what do we lose in going private?”, Comment) is that in a society where paid-for education enhances people’s life chances, class is ignored in the treatment of NHS patients.
Everyone expects to get good care because they need it, not because they can afford it. I find this miraculous, but the miracle will not survive the deterioration of standards of care now becoming apparent. Once it is clear that those who can pay will get better care than those who can’t, equality disappears and we are back to poor services for the poor, as in the US, for example.
