How much should we rely on the NHS?

With the news of 5.6 million people waiting for hospital treatment, I am wondering how much we should we rely on the NHS?  Please be assured I’m not bashing the National Health Service, but the news does make me stop and wonder.

We all know waiting lists have grown by miles and miles in the last 18 months.  Why?  The answer is pretty obvious with the NHS having to treat thousands of COVID patients.  I don’t have a problem with that, only admiration for the hospital staff – the Doctors and Nurses of course, also the back office staff, the cooks, the porters, the cleaners and everyone else.

The waiting list, of 5.6 million, will take years to clear and catch up.  Even before the pandemic, things weren’t brilliant with some people having to wait an awfully long time for some treatments.  Moreover we often hear of Accident & Emergency times becoming long, with less serious patients having to wait several hours for attention.

The more I think about it, the more I think it’s important to do what we make a real effort to stay as healthy as possible.  When I say “we” really I mean “I, myself”.  After all, prevention is always better than a cure.  Nevertheless it is perhaps easy to be lulled into thinking the marvellous NHS will fix anything that goes wrong ~ but hearing that figure of 5.6 million made me sit up and take notice.

We all see the way some people behave.  Mrs Lard wobbling around, Mr Fag coughing his guts out and of course they will be knocking on the Doctor’s door before long.  Who am I to be above them?  No, not at all.

Public Health campaigns have been effective in the past but they have not achieved 100% of their aim; about 14% of adults STILL smoke in the UK.  Taxation, a brilliant way of directing the public’s behaviour, also has had a pretty good effect at changing people’s habits on alcohol, sugar and tobacco.  Good measures as these are, there still seems to be a noticeable number of people on self destruct courses, often disadvantaged and from less affluent areas but not always.

So where do I stand with all of this?

• I am feeling my age more these days, I’m nearly 60.  I am more creaky, a bit stiff and take a handful of pills each day to manage the effects of my battered kidneys.
• I have a reasonably good diet and my weight is okay.  I think I could do a lot better.  Although I am a vegetarian, it’s possible my intake of saturated fat could still be a bit high – the odd chunk of cheese, the daily intake of peanut butter etc.  I normally have 5-10 portions of fruit and veg each day, although not always.
• I normally have 90 minutes of running each week: brilliant cardiovascular exercise.
• I am open to advice from my Doctor and inclined to follow it to the letter.
• We are wondering about future healthcare, when the need arises and what we do….

My top tips

1. Develop a good relationship with your Doctor.  Be extra nice to all the staff  – the nurses, the admin and reception staff (we should always do this but extra important these days)
2. Pharmacists are a really, really good source of help and advice.  Again, develop a good rapport and relationship.  I think they really liked to be asked for their advice!
3. Private medical care?  Well maybe.  A good idea to keep some accessible money for this kind of thing, depends on where you might stand with this kind of thing.  Costs can range from a few hundred pounds for a consultation to £20,000 for a new hip.
4. Maintain a good, healthy diet. We should all know what we should do here.
5. Get enough exercise and ensure it is mixed up – cardio, strength, balance and flexibility.  But we can do more – recently I was listening to Dr Michael Mosley discuss the benefits of simply standing up more and sitting less.
6. Getting vaccines – flu, COVID and anything else that is recommended (pneumonia etc).  The anti-tax group of people seem to be getting quite a loud voice these days and, while I acknowledge their arguments, I think they’re wrong.  I’m having all the vaccines offered.
7. Annual health checks are a good idea, again going back to the “prevention is better than a cure” notion.  It is a bit like having an MOT on your car with an annual service.  Instead of an oil change, you get your blood pressure checked.  Instead of plugging your car into clever diagnostic equipment, you might give a blood sample to check a wide variety of things.  Doctors like doing this, I do as well.

And most importantly – 

8. Keep a positive, optimistic outlook on life – I’m naturally optimistic, always with a ‘half full’ approach to life.  My instinct suggests I will be healthy for longer and amazingly this is supported by a 2019 study carried out in the US and was reported on the BBC here