We love the NHS because we value the concepts of equality of care and equity of access. But hospitals are overloaded, access to care varies across the UK, there is little emphasis on preventive health and we have a workforce that feels so undervalued and overworked that thousands of staff are leaving. Can the NHS – which will celebrate its 75th anniversary on 5 July – be saved?
There is much to be proud of. The people in the service – medics, nurses, physiotherapists, dieticians, pharmacists, occupational therapists – are all routinely involved in a multidisciplinary approach to caring. Not many countries come close to this. We could have a health service that is internationally acknowledged as excellent, given a concerted effort. But change needs to be devised by clinicians, validated by patients, and facilitated by politicians and administrators – rather than the failed model of change devised by politicians and imposed on staff and patients.
