70 years of the NHS
A massive Happy Birthday to the NHS for being amazing full stop but also saving my life in 2015 and giving me superb treatment for breast cancer.
My treatment was gruelling at times and lasted for a whole year, but I met so many incredible doctors, nurses and hospital staff, even down to cleaners. Sheffield’s Weston Park cancer hospital is amazing and the staff, many of whom have worked there for many, many years, are so dedicated and good-spirited despite the difficulty of working on the front line for cancer.
We are immensely lucky to have our health service and boy, when you really need it, then you know what appreciation for it is. All of us, if we ever get ill, especially with something like cancer, we want to know there is a multidisciplinary team made up of everyone from oncologists to radiologist to surgeons to research nurses meeting to discuss and make decisions on each patient individually. We really do have the very best care, as good as anything private.
It blows me away what the NHS did for me and I know if I get ill again in future, I’ll once again be lucky enough to be in their care. At least I hope! Happy 70th, here’s to another 70 and to keep going when I’m long gone!
Here’s Harry Leslie, Barnsley War veteran, remembering life and social health care (there wasn’t any) before the NHS. And the first days of the NHS.