Save the NHS

Today was the first day in a very long time that I actually felt proud of something I had done.

38 degrees is a wonderful site, through which you can create petitions in support of various things. When the save the NHS petition flagged up I didn't hesitate to sign it. Today (28th Feb 15) there was a nationwide day of action where people were taking to the streets to attempt to collect all the signatures they possibly could to support and save our NHS from privatisation.

Basingstoke had nothing planned so I put out messages and set up a facebook event to encourage people from all over the town to come along and support the petition.

When I first put the event up on the 38 degrees website I was a bit discouraged by some peoples comments. What seemed like an innocent "save the NHS" thing to me started to spiral into a political debate. Luckily there were those who could see there was no underlying political agenda and I was simply trying to promote the cause and they quickly silenced the others.

I was pleasantly surprised by the turn out and it was nice to see that aside from the earlier political arguements, people from all walks of life (and different party backgrounds) came together to help promote and collect signatures.

After just over an hour and half people began to withdraw. The weather was against us, it was wet, windy and cold and when you're stood in a town centre with a clip board people will avoid you at all costs. You have to convince them you're not after their pennies!

Town was pretty quiet (probably due to the weather) and we decided after around 2 and a half hours to call it a day. I can proudly say, at a quick glance, we gained over 300 signatures. Once people realised what we were doing we didn't even have to discuss it in depth, they were there, pens at the ready. Though some people walked past, clearly not wanting to be hassled, most people were very keen to get their signatures down and it really did make me realise how much the NHS means to this country. We are the envy of the world when it comes to healthcare and we should be proud of what we have and protect it.

A week ago I had a minor operation and I couldn't fault a single thing. Two years ago I spent a few weeks in hospital prior to the birth of my beautiful little terroriser and again I couldn't fault a thing.  Every experience I've ever had has been brilliant. The level of care is fantastic. I know sometimes mistakes are made and people have had bad experiences but we're all human and we would do well to remember that.

All I would ask from my family,  friends,  colleagues and all you wonderful people reading this who haven't got a bloody clue who I am.......please help save our most treasured asset. Without it we are seriously doomed. The quality of care will diminish and our most vulnerable will suffer. Please follow the link below to sign the petition.

Please help us to SAVE OUR NHS xXx

For more information and to sign the petition please visit:

www.38degrees.org.uk/nhs

You may even find some other things to get involved in!

The picture below shows a hospital bill from the US for a young man that was taken in with Appendicitis. Luckily some of the costs were covered by his father's insurance, unluckily the amount left was still quite substantial. This is the kind of thing we're looking at if we give up on our NHS.