It was only relatively recently, at some point during medical school, that I learnt the NHS has only been around for 60 years. I was rather surprised, I had never particularly thought about it but if I had, I would've imagined it being around far longer than that.
In the press, rather than concentrating on the NHS's achievements to celebrate 60 years, much has been made about the future. Is the NHS still viable? Can and will the NHS survive and of course the 10 year NHS plan. I was recently asked if I was proud of the NHS, in reality this is a rather stupid question, after all, it isn't like I had anything to do with setting it up, nevertheless, some of the answers I've seen have been interesting.
I guess the main factor here is probably political affiliation, I suspect most labour voters would say they are proud, and most conservatives would say the opposite, if for no other reason than they are currently the opposition. This position is perhaps compromised if you're somehow involved in the NHS. I would hope that most healthworkers would be proud of the organisation they work for although I recognise that many have reason not to be. In this case, I would hope that they are proud of the idea of the NHS if not its current state.
Personally, as someone who is about to embark on a career in the NHS, I'm not sure where I fit in. I'm certainly proud of the foundations and ideas of the NHS and I find myself vigorously defending it to anyone who isn't. I don't know much about politics, to me, they're all as bad as each other, I don't think it makes a great deal of difference who is in charge. I don't think the Conservatives would necessarily do a better job with the NHS than Labour have, yes things might be different, but will they really be better? The conservatives will win the next election, of that I'm sure, and frankly that doesn't bother me. I have voted labour in the past but am quite willing to see what the conservatives can offer, so much so that I might even vote for them *shudder*.
So am I proud of the NHS? Yes, I am, regardless of what I think about its current state. I think many that aren't have been swayed by the media who tend to focus on the negative aspects after all its scandal that sells papers.
Are you proud?
