INTERVIEW: NHS Doctor on Saving Our Health Service

Members of Parliament sit cosily in The House of Commons weaving their political ideologies and main stream journalists stand by to parrot out what they say, with a few other views hinted at for variety, akin to the icing on a well made cake. Meanwhile, unnoticed, rarely reported and generally overlooked, the NHS is becoming sick. It is growing ever more pale with sickness from the strain and heat of all the politicians dancing around the political arena with their policies and agendas, which are putting more and more pressure on the fragile NHS.

But it’s not just the government, journalists are also to blame, for shoving the NHS aside in to a corner, like the abnormal child everyone’s too embarrassed to talk about. It’s unspeakable, no one knows how to fix it, so why bother even having the conversation. It’s one of those problems that the only way people can see to solve it, is to pretend it’s not happening in the hope that maybe it’ll go away. But the truth is, it won’t.

There have been many things happening regarding the NHS recently, though you might not know, as the news coverage has been pretty scarce. On Friday 11 March, the second reading of the NHS Reinstatement Bill occurred in parliament, but was not debated by politicians, due to the overrunning of the previous debate. Despite this, parliament was not extended, nor was an extra Saturday parliament called. Furthermore, there has been the junior doctor strike. In addition, NHS performance rates have been lower than ever.

Did you know about these things? I ask this question, because main media outlets such as the BBC, Sky, The Sun and The Times have provided minimal coverage of these important stories. Their silence means that people are not finding out about how our NHS is falling apart. Our NHS is sick and it needs healing, just like all the sick people it’s endeavoured to cure in its lifetime.

Dear Journalists and Editors of the BBC, Sky, Times, The Sun, Telegraph etc.As someone who cares deeply about the NHS,…

Posted by Robert Galloway on Friday, 11 March 2016

In his disgust at this situation, Dr Robert Galloway, an A&E consultant from Brighton, has posted on Facebook, a letter addressed to these journalists and editors. Within 24 hours of being posted it was shared by over 33000 people and had over 800 comments. So much popularity, despite the fact that this post had only been around for just over 24 hours. So obviously, this is a story people care about, therefore it is deeply saddening that there is not more coverage of this news.

The silence of these news outlets may at first glance not seem to spread much of a message, but with some contemplation, one comes to realise the ominous truth, that their silence shows that they do not seem to care. And it is true, the heads of big news companies could probably use private health care if they were in dire need of medical care, as could for that matter, people such as David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt.

But what can we ourselves do about this problem? Because surely we as people can do something. But the question, is what? So, I’ve done what Robert Galloway requests in his letter, I’ve interviewed a doctor, to hear the views of someone who deals with this situation day in day out.

Dr Alexander Lai is a member of the National Health Singers, and was kind enough to very willingly give up his time to participate in an interview.

What do you think of the NHS’s current situation? What do you think is going well? What do you think the main problems are?
I think we are in a dire state where the public don’t realise we have a serious risk of losing the NHS to privatisation. The NHS is suffering from a severe lack of funding but the mainstay of the argument is that it is a crucial public service that is affordable and should not be regarded as a for profit business. What’s going well is that after years of research and development we are in a fantastic position to provide highly quality services and help billions of people. We provide healthcare free at the point of access and millions of people are able to receive the treatment they need that in other countries they would never be able to afford. I am proud of the care we continue to give to every generation from birth. However, for best care to continue people need to take more responsibility of their health and respect the NHS—not abuse it.

What do you think needs doing to improve the NHS?
The key to improving the NHS is proper funding in line with inflation. The NHS needs to be governed by a non political body so that it isn’t used as a political football with false promises and inefficient top down reorganisation after every election. Furthermore, the Health and Social Act needs to be repealed so that the Health Secretary is responsible for providing healthcare for every single person in the UK (which is not the case currently).

What does your choir do to help the NHS?
As part of the National Health Singers we’ve created “Yours”—a song to raise public awareness of the plight of the NHS at the hands of the government.

We sing to empower Britain to fight for its healthcare staff and to save the NHS—it’s a song which says we are proud of this National Treasure and it’s provision of world renowned healthcare, free at the point of access!

The National Health Singers were created as a positive way of dealing with the current problems facing not just junior doctors but all NHS staff and patients. By setting up regional choirs we’ve helped unite cities across the UK. With over 100 members including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers and more we’ve shown that we stand in this fight together in spite of Hunt’s attempts to divide us!

Since October 2015, the NHS choir has been singing up and down the country—performing and chatting to the public at “Meet the Doctors” events as well as boosting morale amongst staff by visiting multiple picket lines on strike days. We also sing to celebrate our NHS and hope to hold an event in the future for everyone to join in and show their support and share their stories.”

What do you think ordinary people should do to help the NHS?
It is so important that the public help support their NHS staff and hospitals. So much of its reorganisation happens behind the scenes and most media outlets have done little to reveal the government’s plans or encourage people to fight for their NHS.

Too often we don’t appreciate something till its gone but we can’t let that happen to the NHS and I would like to say “It is your fight just as much as it is ours!”

There is also the slightly uncomfortable subject of resources. Unfortunately, it is not infinite and gets used unnecessarily by people—from non emergency A&E attendances and pre booking of routine GP appointments weekly for “a chat” to asking for a £400 ambulance ride when you can get a lift or asking for a £10 paracetamol prescription when you can buy it for 16p. So we need everyone to look after their NHS as if it were their own if they’d like it to last.

What are your thoughts about the lack of coverage by major news providers, about some of the recent NHS news, such as the NHS Reinvestment Bill and junior doctor strike?
I know I am not alone in being infuriated by some of the bias and lack of reporting by the major media outlets. We are not naive about understanding their reasoning and motives. It’s just shameful and deeply saddening that there hasn’t been more truthful reporting and furthermore how a national service and its staff, that even journalists will need one day, can be vilified and demonised so much to further the privatisation agenda of the government.

What do you think major news providers can do to help the NHS?
The number one thing all journalists can do is to check the facts not parrot the random stats used by the Health Secretary. Showing the country when thousands of doctors are protesting and raising public awareness of the relevant government legislation as well as reporting positive stories about the NHS can take away from the constant demonising and dismantling of the NHS.

What do you think smaller news sites and publications can do to help the NHS?
I’m grateful to smaller news outlets for engaging with staff on the front line. We’re fighting for patients as a whole—both current and future, when we stand up against this government.

What do you think the government should be doing to help the NHS?
The government should be supporting the NHS not selling it off for profit. The government should be investing in the nation’s health, looking after its children, the mentally ill and elderly population alike. The government should have a Health Secretary who has not written a book about privatising the NHS—and they should not be able to become a Chief executive of a Private healthcare firm upon leaving the job! Finally, the government should take heed of what 53000 doctors are saying and engage with us—we know the NHS is not perfect but we work on the front line and have suggestions for improvements. Listen to us before imposing contracts and management reshuffles and inefficient systems and headline grabbing deadlines.

What can people do to find out more about your choir or to support it?
The support we’re receiving from the public is incredible, and we want it to continue. WE HAVE A LONG FIGHT AHEAD OF US. Please help us to save your NHS. 

Please download, share or gift our song on iTunes and Google:’Yours’ by the National Health Singers. Proceeds go towards campaigns to help the NHS as well as NHS bursaries.

Check out our YouTube videos and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Find out more at www.nationalhealthsingers.co.uk
Share our flashmob video.

We need to get this anthem into the hearts, minds, and phones of every person in the country! In the words of a great song (your song):
We stand as one,
Together we’re strong,
They’ll listen when they hear our song!’
WE ARE YOUR CHOIR. WE ARE YOUR VOICE. THIS IS YOUR #BATTLESONG.

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