Today is the 65th birthday of the National Health Service. As someone who was sceptical when I first moved to the country, I would now like to take this opportunity to thank the NHS.
I am thankful that any time we have needed acute care, the NHS has been incredible. When I had to have abdominal surgery when 20 weeks pregnant with Miss A, I could not have asked for better care.
I am thankful that I got unparallelled medical care at one of the UK's leading antenatal research hospitals for free. I am grateful, if slightly sceptical, at all of the amazingly detailed extra scans I got for free*, even if one of them meant I spent a couple of months worried that Itsyboo had a heart defect. If he had, though, we would have been able to fix it in utero using the latest surgical techniques. For free.
I am grateful that, as nervous new parents, when we were terrified that a five-month old Miss A was concussed (this is actually a funny story, once you get past the initial crazy fear), we took her to A&E and never had to consider whether we could afford it. Who knew that you could be undyingly grateful for a diagnosis of gastroenteritis?
I am grateful for vaccinations, advice, and care that mean my kids are, so far, happy healthy and growing fast.
When people ask if I ever want to move "back home," I say no, citing holiday (ten days per year?!? I think not) and health care.
*I am aware that I pay for the NHS through taxes. I'm okay with that. I am aware that my tax £££s support those on lower incomes. I'm okay with that too. I'd rather everyone had access to vaccines and other preventative health care, rather than being a crisis for the medical system once their conditions got so bad they needed acute remedial care.
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