Victoria
The big conversation on our nhs
Last month, Just Treatment launched our “Big conversations” campaign where we began speaking to someone in every constituency in the UK about their experience of Coronavirus and the NHS. These conversations will directly feed into the creation of a New Deal for the NHS. This is a people powered campaign and collectively, we can ensure we learn the lessons from Coronavirus, and work together to build a better, stronger future for the NHS and for patients.
What has your experience of Coronavirus been?
Coronavirus has not affected me or my family personally but, as with the rest of the population, we too have had to lockdown. Our children are very vulnerable as they suffer from a chronic respiratory disease, so there has been the worry about us getting the virus ourselves.
Luckily we have stayed safe, but we have been worried about others and about the disruption to our children's education and social development. One of them in particular struggles socially, so we hope he can understand how to get on with others when he returns to school.
What long term changes for the NHS do you believe are required?
We should do everything we can to protect our NHS and keep it public.
The involvement of private sector companies in the NHS needs to be phased out immediately. The NHS is being deliberately underfunded to make it appear as though the private sector is necessary, when actually it isn't.
John Pilger stated in his extensively-researched documentary The Dirty War on the NHS that administration costs used to be 5% of the total NHS budget when it was in-house. Now, because of mismanaged spending, admin costs are a FIFTH of the total budget. That’s money that could be spent on rare diseases, baby units and more staff.
Why do you think building a New Deal for the NHS is so important?
When I heard about Just Treatment's campaign to protect the NHS, I was hugely keen to get involved and spread the word. In fact, I do usually get a bee in my bonnet about causes so worthwhile, because NONE of us should be taking the NHS for granted!
With extremely vulnerable children, who would not be here if it wasn't for the NHS, we rely on it as a matter of life and death, as does the whole country; many just do not yet know when they might have a dreadful accident or diagnosis that they wouldn't be able to afford to put right with an American-style system.
Together, we can fight those who want to erode our rights and remove our protections. Healthcare is a fundamental human right, not a profit-making enterprise!
