#nhs72

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Year in Review: July

July 3rd - The Duchess of Cambridge spoke to students from Bond Primary School, on behalf of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

July 5th - The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited The Queen Elizabeth Hospital for the 72nd anniversary of the NHS

July 13th - The Duchess of Cambridge met with families to talk about the Tiny Happy Baby initiative she endorsed

July 14th - Catherine spoke to Louise Minchin of the BBC about the Tiny Happy Baby initiative she endorsed

July 15th - The Duchess held a meeting with Dr Nicholas Cullinan (Director of the National Portrait Gallery)

In case anyone’s unsure, socialised healthcare is life-changing and life-saving.

That’s me in the centre, looking small and red and squishy. I was born nearly two months premature. I was in hospital for a month, most of that in intensive care. I had a blood transfusion.

There was nothing my parents could have done to avoid that. My mum went into labour suddenly on her 29th birthday. Financial worries would have been another layer of stress in what was already a horrendously stressful time.

As it was, my parents took me home with no bills and no debts.

To be clear, the creation of the NHS and free at the point of access healthcare for all citizens is an absolute victory for the people over the state.

The idea of healthcare that didn’t need paying for was revolutionary at the time, and is arguably still revolutionary- which might be why we are seeing real attempts to destroy it via the back door.

For me, growing up in the UK, the idea that someone could genuinely die because they could not afford medical treatment or were afraid of the cost of medical treatment seemed Victorian, inhumane and barbaric.

Having an NHS gives us freedom- it’s not just never having to worry about a medical bankruptcy, or having to find £50 to pay to see the GP. It’s being able to take time off work to travel without worrying about how I’d afford healthcare. It’s being able to get contraception (for free) at the age of 15 without having to tell my parents. It’s knowing that I can take part in a dangerous sport, and my injuries will always be treated for free.

It’s such a massive safety net and I think those of us who’ve lived in the UK for our whole lives have no idea what it would be like to live without it.

It’s true there are problems with parts of the NHS, it’s true it’s massively underfunded. We could fund it properly, if we wanted to- maybe by taking money away from our defence budget, for example. I’ve never needed an emergency nuclear submarine, but I’ve needed to go to A and E.

This year, more than ever, the existence of the NHS is so important. Yes, the UK’s response to coronavirus has been utterly crap, but imagine how bad things could have been if we didn’t have the NHS. Wait, you don’t have to imagine, you can just look at the situation in the USA.

Henry Cavill- A message for the NHS

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#NHS #NHS72

A post shared by Henry Cavill (@henrycavill) on Jul 5, 2020 at 12:22pm PDT