We're In Love With National Health

It's true that you never really appreciate something that is always there until you actually find yourself in need of it.

So it was of me on Thursday just gone. For reasons I can't explain at this moment, I had some kind of fit/seizure. I'd like to tell you more about it, but that whole period of time has remained a black hole for me. By what my work colleagues tell me, however, it wasn't pretty. Needless to say, I wound up in an ambulance and subsequently in hospital in a state of some distress.

Which brings me to my point. The NHS may well be the best thing this country has ever produced: the fact is I was wheeled in and treated without any questions being asked. It didn't matter who I was or how much money I had. I was examined by a doctor and given the various tests needed.

Of course, I'm sure every person reading this resident in the UK will be able to fire criticisms at the NHS. But with any organisation designed to help the well-being of tens of millions of people, there's always going to be numerous issues. I saw some myself the other day: I walked past pensioners lying on trolleys in corridors, for example.

But surely it's an issue with organisation and funding? Something that hit home hard for me was how vital the NHS is to our health as a nation - it needs loved and nurtured the way it would do us. Perhaps the results of the recent council elections will tell the Liberal Democrats that people aren't happy with the level of the cuts - our doctors, nurses and their support staff need more funding, not less.