Chapter 1 : Introduction
1.01 ‘ A moral and professional responsibility ’
On the 5 th July 2018 we celebrated the 70 th birthday of the NHS . This milestone was marked with an outpouring of love , appreciation and concern in the same manner that we would express our feelings for a cherished elderly relative . There was also a government announcement of some increased funding . Then , in early 2022 , the UK found itself in the grip of the deadly covid-19 pandemic . The nation took to the streets each Thursday evening , banging pots , shouting , and cheering to demonstrate appreciation for NHS workers who we were relying on so heavily to get us through . In 2023 , the service will be 75 years old . At an age when most people would be retired and enjoying life at a more relaxed pace , this grand old lady is having to work harder and harder than ever before . Despite increasingly restricted capacity and resources , more and more services are expected for more and more people . Without a doubt , she is experiencing some serious health problems of her very own . It all makes you wonder : What is the life expectancy of a publicly funded National Health Service ?
Many commentators openly speculate on this question . But the simple answer is that we don ’ t know . No-one has ever had a ‘ patient ’ like this and certainly not one with these symptoms – or have they ? We will consider that when we explore the history and recognise how we have ended up where we are in Chapter 4 .
The NHS is huge and complex . The numerous organisations which form its constituent parts continually evolve , divide , grow and merge . Its functions are tangled with politics , legislation and the various regulators who govern healthcare in the UK . Processes , authority and responsibilities forever shift with each change of the political winds and those winds seem more turbulent today than we have experienced before . How can any single person ever expect to exert a worthwhile degree of influence , even if they wanted to ?
Ultimately , every healthcare professional wants to provide the highest quality of patient care . We all want to practice to the very best of our abilities . Patient care , however ,
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