42. The Near Death of the United Kingdom's National Health Service.

Nearly* Beloved,

Recently my wife, Josephine, phoned 31 dental practices in Cambridge in an attempt to get an appointment for a refugee from the Middle East who had a painful tooth in need of extraction. She initially found a dentist to take the case as an emergency on the basis that the patient was suffering from an infected tooth. The dentist declined to remove the tooth and instead prescribed antibiotics. Finally Josephine found a practice that dealt with “special needs” and they performed the extraction.

According to an article in The Guardian newspaper 2,000 dentists left the NHS last year and there are many areas in the UK where it is impossible to get an appointment. Others say that the dental system in the UK has become one of extraction of teeth, rather than their conservation, because it is easier and cheaper and many people cannot afford private care.

Yesterday in the Financial Times an article appeared from an anaesthetist saying that there was a shortage of anaesthetists which would continue for a number of years because of the length of the training. By 2040 there is expected to be a deficit of 10,000 anaesthetists. Junior doctors are finding it difficult to obtain suitable training to take them up to the grade of Consultant. Furthermore most people do not understand how central anaesthetists are to medicine despite their vital role in coping with Covid-19 “as critical care physicians and as doctors adept at rapidly stabilising the sickest patients, as well as the more familiar role in inducing sleep and keeping people safe during surgery.” Furthermore this group is available 24/7 to deal with critical care emergencies and most critical care doctors have had some training as anaesthetists. The sad comment of one anaesthetist was “Surely (this is) part of the government's plan to make the NHS unfit for purpose and then let private healthcare take over. To be honest I think with increasingly frequency that the NHS is no longer fit for purpose and that our working conditions are lousy, (its) hard to keep the faith!"

Recently, I was disappointed to read that the Secretary of State for Health told the Royal College of Physicians “It’s impossible to identify an exact size of the State that maximises growth, freedom and health. My vision of the State is one that is small but strong; empowering not constraining. But if the trajectory of the State continues unchecked, I don’t believe it will be compatible with that vision.”

Doubtless one would feel more confident if the Secretary of State had not been an enthusiastic reader of Ayn Rand's “The Fountainhead” ideological precursor of the notorious book Atlas Shrugged. These are books in which she promotes egotism and individualism. They confuse compassionate action by a society to support its most vulnerable members with “collectivism”. The Secretary of State later claimed to have renounced the values of Ayn Rand for those of “altruism”. Managing a health system financed by taxation and motivated by the general principal of health for all, is not best supported by Ayn Rand enthusiasts; altruism, compassion and financial investment by the state are essential to that task.

Provision of decent health care is a sign of a civilised society. Let's hope we can remain civilised.

Peace,

Paul.

Completed 2nd May 2022

Wikimedia Commons
Illustration of Lazarus at the Rich Man's Gate by Fedor Bronnikov
Dives Feasts whilst Lazarus starves at his door, his sores liked by Dogs.

*Nearly Beloved letters were submitted but not published by St Clement's




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