Oh, just look what is being advertised on social media. Now, why would an election period where the Tories are angling for the ‘older’ vote be a good time to advertise ‘affordable’ private health provision? And, as with Tory affordable housing, may we ask ‘affordable to whom’?
If ever you’ve tried getting any kind of medical treatment privately, you will know how hellish it is for someone who’s on a budget – the available treatment comes in steps – do you want the economy, the enhanced, the super-dooper almost-cetainly-cure-anything VIP package…? Within five minutes of arriving at the ‘clinic’ thinking “I can just about afford this,”, you’re in despair because thousands of pounds worth of ‘extras’ have been added to the picture, and they seem to be things that it would be quite risky to go without.
And instead of your nurse or GP sitting there discussing your needs and options with you, you have a doctor-like entity behaving like an insurance salesman… oh silly me, actually he/she is an insurance salesman, assuring you that the most expensive option is definitely for you and oh, yes, it’s perfectly safe and advisable to be thousands of pounds in debt but not, in fact, dead.
If you start thinking for a moment that you can survive without the NHS, go read some Harry Lesley Smith to remind yourself what it was like back then.
Here’s a review of his book…
Harry’s last stand review on Goodreads
And if you are thinking “oh, I am very rich – I can survive without the NHS, are you really willing to gamble that all your family, friends and loved ones will always be rich enough to survive without the NHS? If you aren’t sure of that, you are condemning them to misery and fear.
And if you are one of those who still doubt that the Tory government is in the process of selling off the NHS, please read this too…
This is a letter from Great Western Hospitals explaining to a woman that they have passed her daughter’s care over to Virgin. She posted this letter on FB, and wrote about the panic she was going through because her daughter was ill and she couldn’t get Virgin to answer their phones. Victims of Virgin Care say they pretty much never do answer their phones.
… and once you’ve read that, please take the time to work out how best to help get the Tories out before they finish selling our birthright.
If you haven’t already done so, the very first thing to do is REGISTER TO VOTE.
Then get talking to your friends and colleagues in your constituency about what you can do to get the Tories out before they sell us out for good. NHS nurses are campaigning using the hashtag #PublicDuty, explaining why they feel they have a moral duty to use their vote to save the NHS. We should be doing the same.
Update 30th May: if you come across anyone who STILL doubts the danger we’re in, tell them about the Naylor Report – and if you don’t know anything about the Naylor Report, watch this excellent video and grab some key facts to remember and pass on.
Kay Green 