No, these aren't the opening sentences of a bad prose contest, they're for real:
"It was a bitterly cold night in January when Geraldine Weller gave birth in the car park of a London hospital. Three hours earlier, the maternity unit had sent her away."
The good news is that Mrs Weller (the article points out that this isn't her real name) and her baby survived the ordeal, no thanks to the understaffed facility. Her story is just one of thousands in similar straits, though, all because the "world class" health care scheme is ill-prepared and ill-equipped. And it's getting worse:
"(A)n investigation by The Sunday Telegraph discloses widespread fears among health professionals that maternity services are sliding into crisis, as small units close, and funding fails to keep up with a decade-long baby boom."
Ooops.
As mentioned, the baby survived (no thanks to the MVNHS©), but it's not all sunshine and lollipops. Heaven forfend that the poor child catch a nasty germ; as we pointed out last month, the Brits' health care "safety net' has some rather conspicuous holes:
"The NHS Direct helpline is at ‘breaking point’ as parts of Britain experience the worst flu outbreak in a decade."
But that's okay, the system's first response is "to do no harm." Right?
Thanks to Mike, we know the answer and it's "um, not so much:"
"Healthy people buying the flu jab have compounded shortages in the NHS and left those at greatest risk struggling to get the vaccine, claimed Dr Clare Gerada, the chairman of the Royal College of GPs."
Their solution? Well, regular readers know what's coming next:
"Dr Gerada said that allowing those who could afford it to buy the jab had upset the “delicate balance” of availability and contributed to shortages ... healthy individuals who had paid to have the jab on a private patient basis at pharmacies shared some of the blame for the shortages."
See, if you're not part of the solution, you're the problem.
And if you are part of the solution, you're still the problem.
Exit question from Mike: "Say, wasn't UK all worried about not enough people getting vaccinated?"
"It was a bitterly cold night in January when Geraldine Weller gave birth in the car park of a London hospital. Three hours earlier, the maternity unit had sent her away."
The good news is that Mrs Weller (the article points out that this isn't her real name) and her baby survived the ordeal, no thanks to the understaffed facility. Her story is just one of thousands in similar straits, though, all because the "world class" health care scheme is ill-prepared and ill-equipped. And it's getting worse:
"(A)n investigation by The Sunday Telegraph discloses widespread fears among health professionals that maternity services are sliding into crisis, as small units close, and funding fails to keep up with a decade-long baby boom."
Ooops.
As mentioned, the baby survived (no thanks to the MVNHS©), but it's not all sunshine and lollipops. Heaven forfend that the poor child catch a nasty germ; as we pointed out last month, the Brits' health care "safety net' has some rather conspicuous holes:
"The NHS Direct helpline is at ‘breaking point’ as parts of Britain experience the worst flu outbreak in a decade."
But that's okay, the system's first response is "to do no harm." Right?
Thanks to Mike, we know the answer and it's "um, not so much:"
"Healthy people buying the flu jab have compounded shortages in the NHS and left those at greatest risk struggling to get the vaccine, claimed Dr Clare Gerada, the chairman of the Royal College of GPs."
Their solution? Well, regular readers know what's coming next:
"Dr Gerada said that allowing those who could afford it to buy the jab had upset the “delicate balance” of availability and contributed to shortages ... healthy individuals who had paid to have the jab on a private patient basis at pharmacies shared some of the blame for the shortages."
See, if you're not part of the solution, you're the problem.
And if you are part of the solution, you're still the problem.
Exit question from Mike: "Say, wasn't UK all worried about not enough people getting vaccinated?"
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