{"id":625,"date":"2009-08-12T18:52:24","date_gmt":"2009-08-12T17:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/?p=625"},"modified":"2009-08-13T14:00:23","modified_gmt":"2009-08-13T13:00:23","slug":"welovethenhs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/2009\/08\/12\/welovethenhs\/","title":{"rendered":"#welovethenhs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The #welovethenhs twitter<\/a> hashtag was started\u00c2\u00a0 to help defend the National Health Service from\u00c2\u00a0 attacks that are being launched on it by some of the opposition in the USA. President Obama has made health care reform a hot topic in the states by trying to approach the subject of re-balancing the inequalities they have there, mainly a\u00c2\u00a0 health care system which penalises the most needy and rewards the most privileged.<\/p>\n

Personally, I have many reasons to moan about the NHS, but I also have many reasons that make me thankful for them, So when people start debating their own flawed medical systems by jumping all over our established system they have, in all likeliness, no first hand experience of\u00c2\u00a0 so cannot put forward a balanced debate, then I feel compelled to defend.<\/p>\n

In the US without decent health insurance (and in some cases with\u00c2\u00a0 it) if I were in an accident or if I, or TBK fell ill. I would have to choose my\/his\/our treatment based on what I could afford, not on what would be best for us. At least with the NHS our options are sorted, I wouldn’t have to choose between paying for mine or TBK health care if I couldn’t afford both. I don’t have to worry about any unforeseen accidents or illnesses,\u00c2\u00a0 I know that if and when we fall ill or accidents\u00c2\u00a0 happen we would be dealt with in a fair, non for profit system.<\/p>\n

Now\u00c2\u00a0 I know the NHS isn’t perfect, the waiting list\u00c2\u00a0 for basic medical care (I’m thinking about my 6 months wait for physiotherapy here) for example is atrocious, I know it has boundaries, we’ve read enough negative headlines about post code lotteries and NICE withholding medicines because of costs to know it’s not perfect but it’s what we have and in my opinion it’s a whole lot better than the alternatives.<\/p>\n

For every 2 or 3 horror stories you hear there are 2 – 3 HUNDRED maybe THOUSAND successes. It was NHS surgeons who operated on both my mother and grandmother who without surgery would have both succumbed to different forms of cancer long ago.\u00c2\u00a0 When I was younger and had to have operations to correct my sight, it was NHS surgeons who treated me and made sure that I can see well enough to be sitting here writing this blog today and when I was in labour with TBK and he was lying the wrong way around, stuck and going nowhere fast it was the NHS midwives and doctors who helped me deliver him with not a second glance towards my paperwork to check which painkillers my policies covered.<\/p>\n

The US is a deeply divided nation on health as in many other policy areas \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it is simultaneously home to some of the planet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best hospitals, the best research in medical advances and the best healthcare practioners \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and also home to some of the worst poverty and barriers to healthcare, the worst developed-world child mortality rates.<\/p>\n

Alex Foster<\/a><\/span> , LDV<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I know people personally who will argue back at me that our system is flawed, and from their experience they think the whole system needs to be altered, but to them I say this;<\/p>\n

Fall down the stairs, be hit by a car, suffer a brain hemorrhage, develop cancer, suffer from MS, ME, asthma, eczema, give birth, twist your ankle, be the wealthiest or the neediest person in the UK, it doesn’t matter because when you need it the NHS will be there. You will be treated the same as the next person regardless of your economic standing, and you will be treated for free, So UK doubters and the US critics, give the NHS a break no system is perfect and where ever there is something to be paid for there will be restrictions but if it wasn’t for the NHS and\u00c2\u00a0 what they do, I along with countless others wouldn’t be here today.<\/p>\n

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The #welovethenhs twitter hashtag was started\u00c2\u00a0 to help defend the National Health Service from\u00c2\u00a0 attacks that are being launched on it by some of the opposition in the USA. President Obama has made health care reform a hot topic in the states by trying to approach the subject of re-balancing the inequalities they have there, … Continue reading #welovethenhs<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[95,140],"tags":[152,154,155,153,156],"class_list":["post-625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-opinion","tag-welovethenhs","tag-critics","tag-doubters","tag-nhs","tag-support"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6WGy-a5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":549,"url":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/2009\/05\/21\/sausage-lips\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":0},"title":"Sausage Lips.","date":"May 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"For the last week or so I've been battling a cold which at 4:30am Tuesday morning it finally broke. I know it was 4:30 as that was the time the clock told me it was when I woke up unable to breathe through my nose, a pounding headache due to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26,"url":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/09\/05\/im-quitting-smoking\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":1},"title":"I’m quitting smoking….","date":"September 5, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"...as of now.I'm telling as many people as possible to stiffen mt resolve, so if anyone see's me with a cigarette feel free to ridicule me for being weak willed!!I asked myself why I smoked and I couldn't find a good enough reason to continue...But the health reasons are the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "WBIAGW"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":76,"url":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/2005\/11\/27\/george-best-is-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":2},"title":"George Best is dead…","date":"November 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"...what a shame lets all stand and give the man who pissed his talent up the wall a minutes silence.........Or maybe not!!Now not to be disrespectful to the dead BUT the bloke knew what he was doing to himself, He'd been in and out of hospital for years. Everyone warned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "WBIAGW"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1667,"url":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/2013\/08\/23\/8-fact-about-me-i-love-camping\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":3},"title":"#8 Fact About Me: I love camping","date":"August 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"River Dove, Beresford Dale, Derbyshire. I love camping, waking up in a field with life stripped back to just the essentials and the day stretching out before you with no where to be. I think it's good for my soul to spend a few nights in the countryside, \u00a0in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Facts About Me"","img":{"alt_text":"Beresford Dale","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7397\/9548129196_acf725f0f2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1658,"url":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/2013\/08\/01\/deals-that-people-as-beautiful-as-you-bought-wowcher\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":4},"title":"Deals That People as Beautiful as You Bought….Wowcher","date":"August 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I sign up for these voucher sites, Living Social, Groupon, etc. - you know the ones. They usually contain a mix of offers ranging from photo printing and weekends away, to MOTs and hair cuts and everything in between. We've had a lovely weekend away and some great canvases printed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/WOWCHER-245x1024.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1639,"url":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/2013\/07\/17\/being-brave-my-body\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":5},"title":"Being Brave – My body","date":"July 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is me - part naked, exposed and posting this before I chicken out - this is in response the\u00a0BBC article\u00a0-\u00a0Are women's bodies still beautiful after pregnancy?\u00a0I read and subsequently shared it on Facebook \u00a0and it led to a really refreshing conversation with a group of my friends - all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Facts About Me"","img":{"alt_text":"Being Brave","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2892\/9307343153_645f01307c.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":630,"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625\/revisions\/630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weirdbutinagoodway.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}