The NHS is in yet another crisis. While it is saddening to write those words, unfortunately the story remains unsurprising. Along with the Cambridge vs Oxford boat race, the Budget and failed New Year's Resolutions, a winter of chaos in the NHS has become an annual affair. A lack of beds, dire social care and cancelling of all operations has left so many in hardship once again. What can be done? This permanently rotating loop of horror stories is unsustainable. How can this change?
Firstly, the main reasons for the crisis. One of the main reasons is amazing. We have an aging population. Due to superb advances in medicine, people are living longer lives. What could be better than that? Individuals have a wider amount of time to spend with families, explore the world and contribute something for the next generation. We can only celebrate. However, the rising quantity of the elderly does surely have a positive correlation with rising health and care issues. As you become older (tremendous), you become more vulnerable to diseases (not so tremendous). Given an aging population has been talked about for a long time, why can't the NHS cope with this gradual rise? Money is surely the main factor. The Government may feel they are providing cash, but whatever increases in the budget, it is clearly not enough. Watch any Question Time clip discussing the NHS. Doctors and nurses – the experts – frequently say they (the institution) are short on the sums required to pay for machines, care and general health equipment. More money is needed. Whether that is in the form of rising income tax or VAT, people must be prepared to pay more. When it comes to a crisis in the NHS, little else is discussed but two topics: money and privatization. The broad left and centre will only talk about more money and how the government is underfunding hospitals. The libertarian and authoritative right will use the crisis to further their privatization agenda, which is certainly not the answer. I struggle with both groups. I am certainly not going to start demonizing and blaming immigrants for the problem. Of course, the tiny minority of 'health holidays' must be dealt with, but the suggestion that all migrants are to blame for a crumbling NHS is fantasy. Many come to Britain because they love this country and see it as a place to better their lives. Good for them. Constantly throwing money at a system not working will not help the system. So, the NHS make savings and become more efficient without the involvement of private companies. I would be fascinated to know how much the NHS spends on machines and drugs from large pharmaceutical companies. Obviously, the companies have to make a profit, but are there cheaper ways of getting good quality, lifesaving drugs at a cheaper price. When will the NHS finally become paperless? The cost of printing all patient records must be astronomical. How can the NHS access the best malware protections on its IT systems without being ripped off? It is not my job to know these things. I wished they were being raised in the debate though. If people want the NHS to be a sustainable system for generations to come (trust me, people do – the NHS has morphed into a national religion), they must be willing to have difficult conversations about how it operates. ****************************************************************************************************************** I am normally quite a punctual person. It always my aim to arrive to place on time, often early. If a person agrees to meet at a certain time, they should be there. Tough, I know. But if you can't make an appointment on time, you shouldn't agree to it. I suppose it's because I'm quite organized. Some of my revision flashcards for the summer mock exams are already made. I'm often asked for paper and have a general sense of what I need to get done. When it comes to this blog, I'm the complete opposite. This blog is being written on the Sunday evening, before I plan to upload it on the Monday afternoon (though it is, in reality, probably the late evening). Fine, you may think. Lots of time will have been spent throughout the week thinking of an idea, planning notes, writing out a draft on paper before finalizing in a type-up. Wrong! While ideas on the news may bubble around my head, I very often have no idea what I will write when I open up a Word document. At first, this worries me, but then I realized how exhilarating the weekly, spontaneous rush of ideas is. It is the way in which creativity truly flourishes. ****************************************************************************************************************** For a college project, I am looking into whether printed books will soon die out. With the rise of e-books and the Kindle, technology is certainly playing a significant part in the way we read. I was interested to learn the projections for the future and whether a paper book will soon be deemed an 'antique.' I certainly hope not, but it's tricky to do anything but speculate. From researching this, I have rekindled my interest in another debate: hardback vs paperback. I used to have a loathing towards hardbacks, perhaps due to the cover not physically being on the book. I couldn't understand why hardbacks were released first, waiting 9 months after everyone else to get a fresh paperback. Now I'm far more neutral on the matter, though leaning towards hardbacks. They are both beautiful, with potential amazing covers and are true, proper first editions. Who wouldn't want the first edition of a book? It will be a part of history forever.
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