Happy birthday to the NHS

I had never thought about the privilege of having free point of care medical treatment until I starting blogging and readers from around the world shared their hospital bills with me explaining how much they pay for the surgeries and treatment I receive for free.

I’d never considered my finances before heading to the doctors, never checked my bank account before deciding whether to have a colonoscopy, never checked my insurance before having life saving surgery.

We are so lucky in the UK, our NHS saves lives every single day and we take it for granted. Without the NHS my life would be so drastically different, I’ve had 7 surgeries over 5 years, months in hospital when you add it all up, I’ve had world class surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, specialist nurses, stoma care and so much more. And not once have I had to make a decision between treatment and my mortgage.

The NHS saved my life, more than once!! And I just wanted to take a moment to say a huge thank you and happy birthday to the NHS at 70.

I took part in the BBC’s Matron, Medicine and Me: 70 years of the Nhs that will be on in a couple of weeks and I couldn’t be more grateful to the amazing care I’ve received over the past 5 years.

But it’s in danger, we need to protect this wonderful service that takes care of us from birth to grave, we need to ensure that in another 70 years, our children and grandchildren will have the same care that we’ve been privileged enough to receive.

Lets nurture the service that has always nurtured us.

Happy Birthday NHS! ❤️