Give the NHS credit where it is due
Posted on 04. Mar, 2009 by Claire in Health, News
As a huge fan of the NHS and all it stands for, I was delighted to see that the Financial Times last Friday acknowledged that the NHS in England has hit most of its waiting list targets for hospital treatment – targets which were thought to be extremely ambitious when first set by the Government back in 2005. They pledged that all patients will be treated within 18 weeks of seeing their GP, and that all diagnostic tests and investigations will have to be completed within that time.
I waited all weekend for this story to catch on – goodness knows we could all do with some good news – but was sorely disappointed when no other coverage appeared anywhere I looked: BBC online, News at Ten, not the slightest nod of congratulations at this achievement. I even did a Google search just to make sure I hadn’t missed it but no, I couldn’t find anything. On further investigation I realised that the Department of Health had not issued a press release but simply published the results here. You can subscribe for email alerts on this page to receive all updates from the DH and other government departments.
I talk to lots of people who have had a great experience of the NHS. Most though, seem to forget that we have one of the most comprehensive health services in the world; universal, tax-funded and free at the point of need – amazing really in this day and age. It is instead a constant source of derision and negativity, and is one of the biggest political punching bags.
It saddens me that when, for once, we have something good to say about this national institution, it goes largely unnoticed (Nicholas Timmins at the FT is the exception). Now, I know good news doesn’t shift as many newspapers as bad news, and it follows that it probably doesn’t attract hoards to a website either, but surely people have a right to know when something good happens. Not telling the good story just serves to perpetuate the negativity. It’s not fair to constantly bash the service, the staff, the funding issues, and the lack of access to treatments compared to other countries, and then not tell people when massive achievements have been made. The previous target, set in 1997, promised that no one would wait longer than six months for inpatient treatment. According to Timmins the median wait is now at 7.6 weeks. If that isn’t a considerable improvement for patients then I don’t know what is.
Of course, it’s not all good news. Timmins points out that not all hospitals have hit their targets in all specialties. And now the skepticism has shifted to whether this success is sustainable, despite the fact that there are no planned public spending cuts in healthcare until at least 2011.
I for one would love to see more positive news coverage for the NHS. What’s it going to take for the media to realise that a dose of good news and sense of collective achievement from the UK’s largest employer would be a great pick-me-up?
Handbaglady
05. Mar, 2009
Hear hear! I too am also sick of constant NHS bashing. Yes, there are faults and things which don’t work well but there are also so many things which do work well and thousands of patients every day have good experiences.
We need to give praise when praise is due as there are thousands of NHS workers doing a fantastic job, sometimes in difficult circumstances, on a daily basis. We aren’t very good in this country about focusing on the positive – we love a good moan.
On a personal level I had a fantastic NHS experience two years ago when I broke my elbow. The emergency treatment and operation I initially received were first class. I had the same surgeon (one of the best upper limb orthopaedic surgeons in the country) that I would have done if I had been a private patient.
I wish the media were better at saying ‘well done’ and ‘aren’t we great’. It must be very demotivating for those working in the healthcare sector to constantly read negative stories about what should be regarded as a national institution.
Chloe
19. Apr, 2009
I completely agree with you Claire.
Having worked with Aurora for the past 2 weeks reading and analysing endless health stories, I have not come across one positive news story about the NHS.
I don’t see what the problem is with the NHS, after all they can’t be perfect, they are not as bad as the media make out.
In fact my Mum had quite a bad experience when she went private a few years ago, whilst having my Sister, I think sometimes she wishes she had quit worrying about MRSA and other issues and just had her in an NHS hospital, I know for a fact the news influenced her.
My Nan has just had a knee replacement and after 5 weeks she’s already hobbling around on one crutch instead of two. They did a fantastic job. Probably no difference from the £10,000 it was going to cost her to have it done privately.
At the end of the day I don’t know what this country would do without the NHS, I suppose they would be moaning that our healthcare services are rubbish still.
I wonder if the NHS will ever get favourable coverage for its positive attributes.
Chloe