Human beings of which they know nothing...

Doctors prescribe medicine of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of which they know nothing.

Voltaire (1694 - 1778)


As the black Cloud of what I will inelegantly call Abrahama-gate bulges ominously over Brown’s head , I feel we are in the eye the storm for the next day or so and , my attention is wandering . It has wandered , skipped and whistled o`er the meadow and eventually come to rest on a Civitas Survey entitled , “Quite Like heaven “ . Not a very catchy title * , but illuminating
It shows us that that middleclass people get a far better service out of the NHS. The poor and less educated visit their GP more often but rates of heart by pass operation are 30% lower in low income groups . By every other measure the articulate and educated nab the goodies.
I have suffered from poor health periodically and it was one of those “ Conditions “ which , like the majority, eludes easy diagnosis. Without going into details except to assure anyone reading that I manage the very slight difficulties involved ,what happens to you in the system is this . The GP will refer you to a set of checks and tests which will show negative . At this point the faint suggestion you might be a self dramatist is announced sotto voce by the clarinet and the motif gathers to full orchestral grandeur as you proceed. You are finally dumped out of the system and everyone is happy except you.
At this point the poorly educated or those cowed by “Doctors” go their way and die of avoidable heart attacks in Glasgow (Life expectancy is 54 in some areas ). Not me .

I recall exactly the letters I wrote . I did some research and made specific complaints in a measured way. I referred to the legal frame work ,the system for dealing with grievances and did so in a manner designed to accentuate my familarity and confidence in the system. With tedious predictability I was whisked though to an astonishingly posh Consultant and some progress was made . As I explained to my wife , what I aimed to achieve with these letters was to non-specific. I only wanted to show by my tone that I was capable of making serious personal difficulties and likely to do so .In a bureaucracy the squeaky wheel is the only weapon you have. I used it and the oil flowed

One mans money is a good another’s ;one man’s letter may not be . There is a democracy about the customer that the NHS lacks.. Part of the advantage of privatising the NHS by degree would be to attack the Kafka-esque clerical inhumanity whereby keeping your nose clean is all. Power must be returned to the patient.Labour have told us “Choice “ is no longer an objective because they do not understand the weasel’s people become in large bureaucracies without a threat.As Doctors to our broken society they .." prescribe medicine of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less, in human beings of which they know nothing "



* -Speaking of not catchy I think we might have hoped the screen writers currently on strike might have come up with a zinger. In fact it is “ We write the storia , for Eva Longoria” Ironic or just crap. I leave the judgement to you

PS anyone got the top female recording artiste yet . Thats in £ record sales adjusted to today’s money. It’s a suprise