#welovethenhs
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to everyone who’s on lockdown, please stay at home and stay safe! we will beat this! every street in the uk stepped out at 8pm tonight and clapped for our nhs and I don’t think I witnessed anything more beautiful
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The finished masterpiece by Dad ❤️🤍💙 #veday2020 #welovethenhs #quarantine #quarantinelife #lockdown2020 (at Sedbergh) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_7XGZODxl9/?igshid=1sepgy2amkjgz
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The NHS is one of the true wonders of the world
I know it comes in for a lot of stick, and people think we should do something about it (by which they generally mean privatise it or sell it off or some shit like that) but they are wrong.
I live in the North West of England, and go to London every year to visit the Grown Up Congenital Heart Clinic, because I am a man with a congenital heart defect.
(Side note - how cute is that name? Not the congenital heart defect, but the fact that the name of the clinic is “Grown Up Congenital Heart Clinic” - can’t you just tell that is the name of a clinic designed by people who deal with children most of the time? Who else calls adults “grown ups”? But I digress).
While I am down there, I generally have a few tests an a review with my doctor. And I try to have them all on the same day because train travel is not cheap (I like in the UK - of course it isn’t cheap) and neither are hotels in London.
Generally the hospital is good at arranging this - they know about my travel situation and they try to arrange all the tests on the same day.
Which in and of itself is fucking amazing - they go out of their way to arrange a schedule around me. This is a world class hospital in the busiest city in the country and they still arrange things around me!! How fantastic is that??
But sometimes things get lost in the paperwork, and the appointments come on different days. This year they came a week apart - a test and an appointment on one day, and another test a week before.
I understand that this happens sometimes - maybe a note was missed on the file, or something like that. I was vaguely annoyed, but not screaming angry because it’s happened before and it always gets sorted out.
And it is not like I am some entitled prick who wants everything my way - if this is the way it has to be, I will gladly travel down one week, then travel down the next. I fully understand that the NHS is woefully understaffed, under budget and EXCEEDINGLY overworked. All I want to do is see if they can move my appointment to the week after - just see. If they can, woot. If they can’t, I am not going to scream at them and swear at them and cuss up a fuss - it’s hardly their fault.
So I phoned up and a very nice lady answered the phone. I explained the problem, and she had a look and within five minutes my appointment is moved to the following week and all three are now on the same day.
That’s literally all it took. She was very polite, and even seemed to smile down the phone when I thanked her four times in a row for being so helpful and making my life so much easier.
This - right here - is our NHS. This is what we have to fight for - to campaign for, to work for and what we have to save.
Polite staff, friendly staff. People who - if you ask them - will go out of their way to help you and make your life that little bit easier.
And - if I could ask you one more thing :-
The next time you are on the phone to your GP, to your doctor, to someone at a hospital, remember this story.
Because if you approach them with politeness, with kindness and with courtesy, you will get INFINITELY further than if you go in being a total shit.
They are overworked, underpaid and in one of the highest stress jobs imaginable. They deal with shit you can’t imagine and people who would make you sit in a corner and cry for the rest of your life.
They are at the sharp end of every day, and they deserve your politeness and your kindness.
I have had some truly shitty experiences in hospital - forty odd years of having heart problems will do that to a person - but never once have I ever thought to blame the people around me for that. They have done nothing but care for me, look after me and do their best to make me better.
They are the best amongst us, and when things go wrong they are generally the first in line to make things right.
So the next time you are talking to them - whether it is a receptionist or a doctor or a nurse or anyone - remember that, and remember this story and remember all of this.
We have to fight to save the NHS, because if we don’t, who will?
2019-04-29 15:01
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#coviduk #nhs #welovethenhs #signs https://www.instagram.com/p/CDbRSQcJi1h/?igshid=17prrcj42utws
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Obscure NHS venue selfie. [Image description: colour instagram photo of clinic corridor with colourful lights in ceiling and photographer's reflection in door at end.] #gpoy #NHS #welovethenhs
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We hope all of our customers are keeping safe during covid19. We want to thank all of our customers so far for 2020 and a massive thank you to all the NHS staff, Key Workers and Supermarket staff for working through this difficult time. We expect to re open once the restrictions have been lifted. We are operating a FREE recovery service for all NHS staff if their vehicle breakdown we will transport their vehicle home or to a garage of their choice. #letsbeatthistogether #scrapmycar #welovethenhs https://www.instagram.com/p/B-wgdHcpdWN/?igshid=1o2jiwhui8rle
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What would we do without our NHS nurses 💖👩⚕️🚑 https://www.facebook.com/nicmadeathing/ . . . . . . . . . . . #crochet #knittingandcrochet #crochetersofinstagram #begginercrochet #crocheting #handmade #madewithlove #homemade #madeinscotland #crochetinspo #amigurumi #amigurumipatterns #crochetpattern #amigurumipattern #crochetnurse #amiguruminurse #nurse #nhs #carer #welovethenhs #scrubs #customemade #commission #giftideas #medical https://www.instagram.com/p/B0afZd7h6_o/?igshid=vcqzndg26y6e
#crochet#knittingandcrochet#crochetersofinstagram#begginercrochet#crocheting#handmade#madewithlove#homemade#madeinscotland#crochetinspo#amigurumi#amigurumipatterns#crochetpattern#amigurumipattern#crochetnurse#amiguruminurse#nurse#nhs#carer#welovethenhs#scrubs#customemade#commission#giftideas#medical
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I don’t have time for daytime tv however I was alerted to a story yesterday and I am shocked appalled and angry at @thismorning for running a story on a women who faked depression to get a nose job. There is a NHS crisis, people dying waiting for life saving procedures. People taking their own lives as they can’t access mental health care due to cuts. And this woman fraudulently got a nose job. There are so many more stories This morning could have run. When I almost lost my life due to #placentapercreta the NHS saved me. I alone cost them in the region of £10000 not a figure I’m proud of. In fact I fee so guilty I fundraise to try and give a little back. My condition and that of another 1 in 272 women is barely heard of even by some midwives and sonographers. Yet it’s on the rise due to more and more procedures that cause uterine scaring. Why not run a story about that THIS MORNING? Come on you can do better!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #nhs #nhsheros #thismorning #placentaaccreta #mymindandme #placentaaccretasurvivors #savethenhs #welovethenhs https://www.instagram.com/p/By9jRSpFCXk/?igshid=uj7e3r5x2vg2
#placentapercreta#nhs#nhsheros#thismorning#placentaaccreta#mymindandme#placentaaccretasurvivors#savethenhs#welovethenhs
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So my partner went for surgery today and we were sitting by his bed and noticed they had Winnie the Pooh characters on the ceiling. He is 34. But his favourite Disney character is Winnie the Pooh... How did they know!? 😆❤️ It made him feel very relaxed knowing Pooh was there 👍 . . #nhs #nhsheroes #poohbear #winniethepooh #eeyore #thankyounhs #welovethenhs #nhsheroes #saveournhs #nothingisimpossible #bedrest #getwellsoon #recovery #surgery #comforting #disneypooh #disneybear #kidneystones #kidneysurgery (at King George Hospital) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsRR-FhnfrF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ja6huwqdufh9
#nhs#nhsheroes#poohbear#winniethepooh#eeyore#thankyounhs#welovethenhs#saveournhs#nothingisimpossible#bedrest#getwellsoon#recovery#surgery#comforting#disneypooh#disneybear#kidneystones#kidneysurgery
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Awaiting #Lau . . #music #Edinburgh #QueensHall #NHS #WeLoveTheNHS #livemusic (at The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh)
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#veday2020 #welovethenhs #quarantine #quarantinelife #lockdown2020 (at Sedbergh) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_7V3Q2Dx9e/?igshid=2mg5v3bsh16z
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Hannan lobbies for US visa.
Professional backstabber Dan Hannan is continuing to prostitute his politics over the Atlantic, appearing in an interview with Paul Waugh to discuss his plans to become the official voice of British public sector politics in the States.
As if his healthcare scaremongering on Fox wasn't enough, Hannan feels the need to restress the comparison of the NHS with some kind of nuclear disaster, a comparison that only seems to make sense in his own warped mind.
Noticeably smug in the interview, Hannan seems to attribute his internet 'popularity' to the groundbreaking nature of his views, and comes to the decision that people came to some sort of 'eureka' moment when watching him slither his way onto the Glenn Beck show. At this point, I do start to wonder if Hannan realises that all publicity is good publicity for his purposes. I suspect he does, which would certainly explain why he continues his campaign of targeting Americans with limited knowledge of the British healthcare system.
Hannan's approach is similar to telling a blind man the weather, and he is inhabiting a dangerous territory. It is clear that he was aware of this, targeting only the furthest rightwing groups in America in order to guarantee there would be no hostility towards his views. What a pioneer for British politics.
In this most recent interview, he announces his admiration of Enoch Powell, a role model known for his anti-immigration and Common Market views. When considering the consequences of Nigel Hastilow's remarkably similar comments, this marks Hannan moving onto extremely shaky territory in terms of his position as an MEP.
I hope he has some ideas for a long-term career riding the YouTube wave, since it seems like he is rapidly surfing his way towards the end of his current occupation.
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800 - Socialised Medicine and The NHS
(Originally written 19/09/2013)
Six months ago, at this very moment, I was sleeping in a single bed. My girlfriend was sleeping on a mattress on the floor at the end of the bed.
We were in a room in The Heart Hospital, London, and I was around ten hours away from a porter taking me down to the operating theatres, where a team of surgeons and doctors and nurses and probably a few other people would carry out what I am lead to understand was a seven hour operation to replace my aortic valve with a mechanical one.
Clearly - by the fact I am writing in this diary - I made it through the operation, and through the recovery period in the hospital, and through the recovery period at home and through the recuperation back to my pre-operation life.
Of course, before I had the surgery, my heart didn't tick, and now it does. What with it being a mechanical valve, it clicks every time it opens and closes. And I have to take warfarin every night to avoid clots building up on the valve.
But - on the whole - I am fit, I am healthy and I am not going to need any more operations (which given I have had three already is probably a good thing), so the months of pain and discomfort really were worth it.
But while all of that is important back story, it is not the point of this entry.
Because I am just one person, and while my story is important (because society is made up individuals, so the life of one person - the rights, health and general well being of that one person - is just as important as the rights, health and general well being of society as a whole),and while the rest of this entry is also about my story, there is a whole other part of this that far more interesting (to me at least) and far more important as a whole.
Last night, I saw an advert on TV. I can't remember the exact wording, but essentially it went like this :-
A voice over artist asks :
What makes a good health provider?
Then we get a series of children (apparently of every race, creed and colour) giving their answers :-
One that makes my mummy better so she can help me with my rocket
One that makes my daddy not fall over so much
One that takes care of me when I am ill
One that has nice rooms and play areas
One that looks after my gran so she can come home and look after me
One that makes my granddad feel better after he was ill
At the end, it says "BUPA - your choice for (something - I kind of stopped paying attention at that point)"
It painted a lovely, rosy picture of a health service provider that everyone would love and adore.
What I would like to see is the last few kids :-
One that is free at the point of service so daddy doesn't have to work two jobs to pay for mummy's cancer treatment
One that is available to anyone, no matter whether they can afford the treatment or not
One that is not based on ability to pay, but need
But somehow I don't think that BUPA is ever going to put that in their adverts, because - lets face it - that's not what BUPA is about.
They are there to make a profit, pure and simple. In much the same way that every other private medical provider is there to make money.
And somehow they have managed to project the image that private medical treatment must be better than the NHS, because if you are paying for something, you expect it to be better than what you get for free. ("You get what you pay for" is a very old adage, but while in a few cases it is true, in the vast majority of cases is it a lie, through and through).
I turned 40 just over a month before my operation, and in the whole of my forty years I have never once had to pay for my treatment at the point of service.
Yes - I pay taxes. Quite a lot of taxes actually, but since I earn enough to warrant paying those taxes I don't mind.
As a wise man once said - it is the only way to make the country work, and - since I am apparently going to need medical care my whole life, it is in my best interest that the best people can go to medical school, not just those that can afford it, and that the police, fire brigade, ambulance services and other national, public services are fully funded, even if some of the people who use them can not afford to fund them.
I turned 40 just over a month before my operation, and in those 40 years I had two major operations, five minor operations and several hundred days in hospital for check ups, scans and other such medical things. And not once did I have to pay any of those things directly. Not once did I have to pay to ensure my health was okay.
And in all that time, I have never had a single complaint about my treatment. I have been treated with respect, with kindness, with care. I have been looked after by world class doctors, surgeons and consultants. I have never had to wait excessive times for an appointment - in fact, this last operation was scheduled in January but I asked for it to be put back until March because I needed time to sort stuff out at work, and they agreed without hesitation.
I have never once felt like a "customer" - I have always felt like a patient. I have never felt like I was being treated at their convenience, but that they were looking after me based on my requirements. In short - in the 15,000 days I have been under the care of the NHS, I have never had a single day where I thought I could do better.
I have to admit that my knowledge of healthcare prices in the US and UK is pretty sketchy. So all of what I am about to quote are pretty much estimates, based on random guess work.
So if you are going to take me to task over them, don't bother because I know they are just estimates.
My health care costs :-
Three major operations - all open heart surgery, all lasting a fair while, one when I was a child.
Estimated costs (based on random google search) - around £75k each.
Five minor operations - related to my heart condition.
Estimated costs - around £30k to £50k each.
Around 100 to 150 hospital consultations.
Estimated costs - around £50 to £100 each.
Around 30 to 40 days in hospital (post operations).
Estimated costs - around £1k each.
Post operative pain medications (not in hospital, but on prescription).
Estimated costs - £1 to £2 each.
Total costs
3 * £75k = £225,000
5 * £40k = £200,000
150 * £75 = £11,250
40 * £1k = £40,000
2000 * £1.50 = £3,500
Total = £479,450
Now - keep in mind this doesn't include the Warfarin I now take daily, nor does it include incidental expenses that might have come up, nor does it include the costs of accommodation for my parents (in the earlier years) and my girlfriend (this last time).
Nor does it include any other sickness or doctors visits I have had that were not related to my surgery.
Nor does it include the two ambulance rides I have required in my life.
So - the total cost comes out at around £479,450 for treatment related to my heart condition. Nearly half a million pounds for all of the treatment I have received.
My family is not poor by any stretch of the imgination, but the idea that - with three young children and my mother taking a break from work to raise us - they could have afforded that much is beyond reason. And even though I am not poor, the idea that I could afford that is also beyond reason.
Now -- I know what you are going to say :- that I can pay health insurance premiums, some of which can be relatively inexpensive, so I would not have to cough up the whole whack in one go.
But what if I was unemployed?
What if I didn't have a job?
What if I had a minimum wage job working as a shelf-stacker somewhere?
What if I had a zero-hour contract job so that I didn't know if I would be employed from one day to the next?
In short - what if - by the grace of the gods, the grace of fate - I did not have the job I have now, and the financial stability I have now? No health insurance, no way to pay for the treatments. What would my choices be then? Go MASSIVELY in to debt so that I can continue to live? Or just accept that - because I am poor, with no money and no hope - that I deserve to die?
Socialised medicine is not evil.
Socialised medicine is not the work of Satan.
Socialised medicine is not bad or wrong.
We do not have DEATH PANELS that decide whether people should live or die based on what it would cost to support them.
We do have one of, if not the, best Health Care Services in the world.
One that is free at the point of use, one that anyone, no matter their status, can use when they need it.
One that - if we do not stand up for it - we will lose forever.
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#welovethenhs - Socialised Medicine at its finest
I rarely write political stuff on here (even if I do reblog it from time to time) because I I have other blogs for that.
However, as it is coming up to Christmas, I thought I would share a tiny piece of my history with you.
(This was written on the 19th of September - around three months ago).
x-x-x-x-x
Six months ago, at this very moment, I was sleeping in a single bed. My girlfriend was sleeping on a mattress on the floor at the end of the bed.
We were in a room in The Heart Hospital, London, and I was around ten hours away from a porter taking me down to the operating theatres, where a team of surgeons and doctors and nurses and probably a few other people would carry out what I am lead to understand was a seven hour operation to replace my aortic valve with a mechanical one.
Clearly – by the fact I am writing in this diary – I made it through the operation, and through the recovery period in the hospital, and through the recovery period at home and through the recuperation back to my pre-operation life.
Of course, before I had the surgery, my heart didn’t tick, and now it does. What with it being a mechanical valve, it clicks every time it opens and closes. And I have to take warfarin every night to avoid clots building up on the valve. But – on the whole – I am fit, I am healthy and I am not going to need any more operations (which given I have had three already is probably a good thing), so the months of pain and discomfort really were worth it.
But while all of that is important back story, it is not the point of this entry. Because I am just one person, and while my story is important (because society is made up individuals, so the life of one person – the rights, health and general well being of that one person – is just as important as the rights, health and general well being of society as a whole),and while the rest of this entry is also about my story, there is a whole other part of this that far more interesting (to me at least) and far more important as a whole.
xoxoxo
Last night, I saw an advert on TV. I can’t remember the exact wording, but essentially it went like this :-
A voice over artist asks : What makes a good health provider?
Then we get a series of children (apparently of every race, creed and colour) giving their answers :-
One that makes my mummy better so she can help me with my rocket
One that makes my daddy not fall over so much
One that takes care of me when I am ill
One that has nice rooms and play areas
One that looks after my gran so she can come home and look after me
One that makes my granddad feel better after he was ill
At the end, it says “BUPA – your choice for (something – I kind of stopped paying attention at that point)”
It painted a lovely, rosy picture of a health service provider that everyone would love and adore.
What I would like to see is the last few kids :-
One that is free at the point of service so daddy doesn’t have to work two jobs to pay for mummy’s care
One that is available to anyone, no matter whether they can afford the treatment or not
One that is not based on ability to pay, but need
But somehow I don’t think that BUPA is ever going to put that in their adverts, because – lets face it – that’s not what BUPA is about. They are there to make a profit, pure and simple. In much the same way that every other private medical provider is there to make money.
And somehow they have managed to project the image that private medical treatment must be better than the NHS, because if you are paying for something, you expect it to be better than what you get for free.
(“You get what you pay for” is a very old adage, but while in a few cases it is true, in the vast majority of cases is it a lie, through and through).
I turned 40 just over a month before my operation, and in the whole of my forty years I have never once had to pay for my treatment at the point of service. Yes – I pay taxes. Quite a lot of taxes actually, but since I earn enough to warrant paying those taxes I don’t mind. As a wise man once said – it is the only way to make the country work, and – since I am apparently going to need medical care my whole life, it is in my best interest that the best people can go to medical school, not just those that can afford it, and that the police, fire brigade, ambulance services and other national, public services are fully funded, even if some of the people who use them can not afford to fund them.
I turned 40 just over a month before my operation, and in those 40 years I had two major operations, five minor operations and several hundred days in hospital for check ups, scans and other such medical things. And not once did I have to pay any of those things directly. Not once did I have to pay to ensure my health was okay.
And in all that time, I have never had a single complaint about my treatment. I have been treated with respect, with kindness, with care. I have been looked after by world class doctors, surgeons and consultants. I have never had to wait excessive times for an appointment – in fact, this last operation was scheduled in January but I asked for it to be put back until March because I needed time to sort stuff out at work, and they agreed without hesitation.
I have never once felt like a “customer” – I have always felt like a patient. I have never felt like I was being treated at their convenience, but that they were looking after me based on my requirements.
In short – in the 15,000 days I have been under the care of the NHS, I have never had a single day where I thought I could do better.
xoxox
I have to admit that my knowledge of healthcare prices in the US and UK is pretty sketchy. So all of what I am about to quote are pretty much estimates, based on random guess work (and a few google searches). So if you are going to take me to task over them, don’t bother because I know they are just estimates.
My health care costs :-
Three major operations – all open heart surgery, all lasting a fair while, one when I was a child.
Estimated costs (based on random google search) – around £75k each.
Five minor operations – related to my heart condition.
Estimated costs – around £30k to £50k each
Around 100 to 150 hospital consultations
Estimated costs – around £50 to £100 each
Around 30 to 40 days in hospital (post operations)
Estimated costs – around £1k each
Post operative pain medications (not in hospital, but on prescription)
Estimate costs – £1 to £2 each
Total costs
3 * £75k = £225,000
5 * £40k = £200,000
150 * £75 = £11,250
40 * £1k = £40,000
2000 * £1.50 = £3,500
Now – keep in mind this doesn’t include the Warfarin I now take daily, nor does it include incidental expenses that might have come up, nor does it include the costs of accommodation for my parents (in the earlier years) and my girlfriend (this last time). Nor does it include any other sickness or doctors visits I have had that were not related to my surgery. Nor does it include the ambulance rides I have required in my life.
So – the total cost comes out at around £479,450 for treatment related to my heart condition.
My family is not poor, but the idea that – with three young children and my mother taking a break from work to raise us – they could have afforded that much is beyond reason.
And even though I am not poor, the idea that I could afford that is also beyond reason.
xoxox
Now — I know what you are going to say :- that I can pay health insurance premiums, some of which can be relatively inexpensive, so I would not have to cough up the whole whack in one go.
But what if I was unemployed? What if I didn’t have a job? What if I had a minimum wage job working as a shelf-stacker somewhere? What if I had a zero-hour contract job so that I didn’t know if I would be employed from one day to the next?
In short – what if – by the grace of the gods, the grace of fate – I did not have the job I have now, and the financial stability I have now?
No health insurance, no way to pay for the treatments. What would my choices be then? Go MASSIVELY in to debt so that I can continue to live? Or just accept that – because I am poor, with no money and no hope – that I deserve to die?
xoxox
Socialised medicine is not evil. Socialised medicine is not the work of Satan. Social medicine is not bad or wrong.
We do not have DEATH PANELS that decide whether people should live or die based on what it would cost to support them.
We do have one of, if not the, best Health Care Services in the world. One that is free at the point of use, one that anyone, no matter their status, can use when they need it.
One that – if we do not stand up for it – we will lose forever.
#welovethenhs
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