Member-only story
Nevermind the Cure
Dark tales from the NHS
As a Brit I’m very proud of our NHS. It was our greatest post-war achievement that transformed the lives of the masses overnight. The right for citizens to receive all health treatment that was free at the point of delivery was both bold and radical. No longer would ordinary people forgo a life enhancing operation or treatment that was crucial to their continued survival or well being, due to a lack of finance. No person would need to get into debt or sell their house to pay for their medical bills. Health care became a fundamental right of every person, rich or poor.
Okay, it’s had its problems of continuing to receive adequate funding. This has been exacerbated by years of right wing, austerity Tory rule, who bitterly opposed the idea of the NHS from the time of its inception. Despite all this, most people remain highly thankful and satisfied with the health treatment and care they receive under the NHS.
Yet the NHS is a vast organisation with thousands upon thousands of employees. Despite highly qualified team members employing rigorous professional standards, like any institution of this type that is largely based on people skills, human error will occasionally creep in. Also you may have the odd person unsuited to the tasks they are given. And on very few occasions, it is perhaps inevitable that a wrong-un may slip…
