Is this really what we want? Why the NHS matters.
(Published September 2021):
I'm going to do something brave here and speak up. I couldn't help noticing this week that in the UK with the fuel shortage causing huge chaos, the government are planning to get the army to help out, and with the shortage of lorry drivers risking the supply chain, there has been a government u-turn "to save Christmas".
But there is something much bigger and more concerning going on. We have a national shortage of GP's and our hospitals are swamped. But doctors and nurses are vilified and the government isn't shouting about "saving our health", instead it's behaving as if it's nothing to do with them. Yes, there has been an injection of cash (which is appreciated) but the media savaging of healthcare professionals continues. I regularly speak to doctors who are frightened and exhausted - in the past few weeks it has been the Children's hospitals that are suddenly filling up at an alarming rate. There have been assaults on GP's and their reception staff. The people we were cheering in early 2020 are now being blamed, as if they suddenly changed from hard-working professionals into lazy layabouts who don't care.
Whatever your politics, if the health system collapses, we are all in danger. Whether we need to start paying for healthcare, or save the NHS is up to us all to decide, but in the immediate future we need to worry less about "saving Christmas" and focus on saving lives, and protecting the healthcare teams that we do have.
I left the NHS in 2017, because I realised that the stress and workload was impacting my health and my family, and I knew the NHS wouldn't look after me. I was right. Watching this situation unfold is distressing and confirms all my fears. Leading up the to Pandemic, GP practices were overstretched and understaffed for years and we all worked way longer than our paid hours every day, but we battled on, trying to provide a good service. GP Practices have had to implement stricter hygiene measures and precautions to keep the public safe, which necessarily means that each appointment takes longer and more staff are needed, but the rhetoric is that "GP's aren't seeing patients". Doctors and nurses get Covid too, so often there are staffing gaps because of illness. They're not playing golf, they're struggling to keep a service going that is impossibly overloaded, with scarce resources, no funding to take on extra staff, and even a shortage of blood bottles! The injection of cash from the government will be focused on hospitals, so GP practices won't see much or any of the money.
The moral injury of trying to work as a doctor with huge funding constraints and lack of staff is distressing for any doctor who is trying to do their best. There have been several suicides as doctors (and nurses and paramedics) grapple with the enormity of the situation.
Instead of blaming doctors (and leading to more doctors and nurses to leave their jobs because they are demoralised, depressed and exhausted) we as the public need to demand better from our politicians and leaders. The health of our families is at stake. What can we do to help the NHS to meet the demand? What are they doing about the GP shortage? If blood bottles are stuck at the ports, can the army distribute them as well as fuel? How are we going to fund this going forward, if the virus continues (as it may do)? Doctors can't spend all day discussing these options if they're seeing so many patients, so they need some help.
It's easy to blame, and I'm not suggesting that politicians created this situation. They are probably struggling too. But it's about priorities. Are we more worried about Christmas decorations and turkeys, or the health of the nation? That's what's at stake.
I rarely speak about politics on here, but in crisis situations we need leadership and we need to make smart decisions. If the public are being lied to about what's happening and what's possible, then it's important to correct that lie. I've experienced the difficulties in the NHS myself this year - my father died from cancer in March - and it was very difficult to get help when we needed it most. But I understand that it's not for lack of trying - the NHS is in jeopardy and we need to make a plan.