The NHS

The other day while out and about, I managed to inflict a head wound upon myself. It was pretty deep and bleeding quite a lot, so after a bit of persuasion by my friends we went back into school and got it checked out by some clerks.

What followed was a series of conversations between me, my dad (over the phone) and the clerks at reception, and in the end I was sent to the unofficial sixth form common room to wait until I could be taken to the minor injuries place. I didn't particularly care at this point, I'd never made much of a fuss over injuries, but a senior staffer saw me and due to the fact that Ofsted were in that day, wanted me out of there. Yeah, it would have looked a bit bad if students were walking around with gaping head wounds, I understand.

So one of the clerks drove me to the minor injuries centre run by the NHS in the local town. We entered the waiting room, I gave the receptionist my details (strangely my religion was asked, to which I replied 'atheist' which was received very strangely: everyone seemed very shocked) and we sat down. I was promised that we would be moved to the top of the waiting list, but in the end I had to wait two and a half hours to be patched up. Yeah, with a bleeding head. So much for being a priority.

So you'd expect me to be critical of the NHS after this little episode. But I'm not. I think it's great that medical treatment is free in this country. Now, it's a bit different for me because a lot of people would have made a lot more fuss if they were in my situation with a bleeding head wound, but to me it is just a trivial matter.

All in all, I'd stupidly injured myself and been fixed for free. That's all that counts really, as long as the competence of the NHS staff doesn't interfere with the way the wound heals, and it didn't, so there is no reason to complain. Yes, the NHS needs to improve, it is certainly not without its faults, but I much prefer this system to one where I would have to pay every time I injured myself.

When you examine the situation in this country, the distribution of tax money, it really makes you wonder. We have millions of pounds being given to people who are simply too lazy to work or are exploiting the benefits system by becoming pregnant at an early age. This money would be better spent if it was directed to the National Health Service, it's as simple as that. They are under-staffed and underpaid, and they simply need more money which the government is busy handing out to those who simply do not need it.

Overall though, the NHS is doing fine. Exceptionally well for a free organisation. So my message is this; do not be so quick to criticise an institution that is neglected by the government and is free of charge to the masses; they're doing a bloody good job.