A gamble too far
Like the Jobbing Doctor Dr Grumble sometimes wonders if what he thinks he sees happening to the NHS is a delusion. Dr Grumble thinks that the NHS is sleep walking into a future that hasn't fully been thought through and that we are in danger of losing our universal healthcare. Dr Grumble is not going mad. Others think the same way. You can listen to them here. Please do. It's important.
1 comment:
It's a delusion, though like many delusions it does contain elements of reality.
The "sleep walking" is a delusion. The NHS is not a conscious being, so it cannot wake up. Sleep-walking is its natural state. Its consciousness is contained in a relatively small number of wide awake individuals like yourself, who are actively debating its future.
"A future that hasn't fully been thought through" is another delusion. No future is ever fully thought through. You might feel that the changes you see happening now will have bad consequences. You might be right. But you can only argue about specific changes and specific consequences. No one can fully think through every change and every consequence.
"Our universal healthcare" is a delusion. I knew someone who died as a result of a treatable condition that his NHS doctors refused to treat. Later, a GP in a neighbouring county casually remarked to a family member that he would certainly have been treated there. The NHS has always rationed health and always will. Future rationing will probably work in a different way. Perhaps there is a better way than letting someone die because he's in the wrong county.
"Dr Grumble is not going mad." That is probably true. Having occasional short-lived delusions is not a sign of madness. Anxiety, perhaps.
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