The NHS is 70

[Daisy]

Seventy years ago today saw the birth of the NHS, the health care system which became the envy of the world.

Let's mark it with our comments - good and bad - about how it's been part of our lives.

[Mimi]

On the whole I would say good , yes I have had issues with district nurses who would do as little as possible to help with the final last months of dad’s life and there cannot be many of us who hasn’t spent hours in A and E but that outweighs the wonderful care I have witnessed first hand with local GP’s , hospital doctors, nurses, porters and the cleaning staff , even the young girl who brought the teas and coffees around on the ward dad was on was fantastic, she was such a caring person. When dad passed away she was so upset as dad thought the world of her.
It’s not just the drs and nurses we have to thank , it’s the whole of the NHS it’s self. There is no good having a top notch surgeon if there are not any cleaners and catering staff there to ensure the patient makes a recovery.
Not every patient can be cured I know but from first had experience when my dear friend struggled with her health the NHS was there for her 24 hours a day until her final day.

So so sad to see the NHS where it is at the moment, struggling to maintain services and facing an uncertain future, I do worry if it can keep going

[Nanto2girls]

I know mistakes can and are made, but i think the NHS do a splendid job.

Last week, on the local news, there was an interview with the first patient for the NHS.
She was from West Yorkshire. She was 12½ years old when she was admitted to hospital.She died when she was 88.
Her son and 2 grandsons went on to become doctors.

[Gemini]

Mostly my comments are positive.
When we need urgent care it is there, at no charge, many of us and our families would have spent many, many thousands over the years on treatments. Even the births our our children and grandchildren would be costly, even the routine pregnancies and births.
I occasionally envy American friends who seem to tell the GP when they want to see them, rather than fit in and wait weeks as we do. I don't envy the bills though. A job in the states which comes with good health insurance, is more important than the actual salary sometimes.

Rising prescription costs, hospital waiting lists, hospital infections, difficulty in seeing GPs, especially one of your choice, are all things we rightly complain about. Things are far from perfect.

On balance though, I still think our NHS is a good thing, and many countries envy us.

[Oma]

Cant praise it enough but as Mimi said cut backs are getting worse , its struggling in places,
Having said that I dread to think what would have happened if NHS wasn't there for most of us .
Brian's Cousin lived in America for 15 years and while he was there he had to have bowel surgery and then had complications , the bill came to over $1000000 dollars

[Plantaholic]

Very good care from all we have come in contact with over the years. I have been admitted into A&E three times myself and feel very sorry for the stress the A&E staff are under. Yes, I have been on a trolley bed for longer than I would have liked but that is caused by under funding and under staffing. The one complaint I would have is that the feeding of frail patients is shocking, they are left with food they cannot unwrap or is unsuitable for them to feed themselves. We must keep the NHS at all cost.

[Qwerty]

Happy Birthday NHS what would we do without you 😀😀😀
I count my blessings due to their organisation they have given me a better life thank heavens for Botox but most of all the births of our twin grandchildren born so early and such care and expertise given and now embarking on school
Like Gem says it has its downside but nothing that a an injection of more money won’t sort out come on government we aren’t all able to go private !!!!

[Daisy]

Like most of us, I've had reason to be grateful for the NHS over the years. Everything from the births of my children to end of life care for my parents, and the health ups and downs in between.

I hate to see all the NHS bashing that goes on, but I also hate all the waste in the system. I hate the culture of box ticking and how targets have affected GP practices. I hate to see the NHS waste millions because of system failures - like cancelling operations because there isn't a theatre nurse or things like that. There's also a lot of waste over purchasing, like paying an extortionate price for basics such as disposable gloves.

I think the vast majority of staff are amazing - patient, kind and caring. Of course there are going to be a few grumpy people who really should go and get other jobs, and anyone can have a bad day occasionally. It was just a small thing, but when OH went for his first eye injections last Monday, we were walking along a corridor and had to go through doors where there was a man up a ladder mending something/changing a bulb type of thing. We were quite happy to wait patiently for him to finish, but he insisted on coming down his ladder moving it out of the way and even holding the door open for us. He could have just ignored us and let us wait.