#SaveTheNHS

Sharing good stories of the NHS in support of their strike is excellent.
I wasn't going to join in because my most recent encounter with them was actually sub-par. But then I realised that actually the fault didn't lie with the NHS. The problems all occurred because my appointment wasn't actually with an NHS pain clinic. It was with a private company who had won the contract for NHS referrals in our area. But this is really important.

The lack of practical help, the lack of funding for certain treatments and the shoddy policies are not the fault of the NHS. The NHS continues to try and be helpful given the circumstances they are in.
No, the fault lies with the current government policies and plans to break up the NHS. The fault lies with people like Jeremy Hunt who falsely and against all evidence believe that we should have more privatised healthcare. The fault lies with Jeremy Hunt and his insistence on awarding lucrative contracts to private firms, telling us that this is some how more efficient and then complaining about lack of funding for the NHS.

This is precisely why I support every member of staff who are striking today. We need a united and whole NHS. We need an NHS that treats staff and patients with respect and fairness. We need an NHS that is truly a National Health Service and not some umbrella for private healthcare. We need an NHS that serves the interest of the people working for it and the people using it.

We need to protect the NHS in its proper form.

The contracts that Jeremy Hunt is pushing through for Junior Doctors is ‪#‎NotfairNotSafe‬ for both doctors and patients. It is another step in the undoing of our NHS. To stand with the Junior Doctors is to Stand For The NHS.