The Spirit of ’45?

As a British citizen, I was very interested to read your account of the National Health Service (NHS) last issue. I am 78-years-old and for the last two years have been in poor health with mobility problems. I have had a month in hospital, undergone various tests and procedures and received pieces of equipment, such as walking frames. Despite spending cuts I have always found the NHS staff to be competent, helpful, and friendly. And all this cost me nothing.

I am old enough to remember stories of life before the NHS. If you couldn’t afford an optician you chose a pair of spectacles approximating to your needs from the counter in a supermarket. If a tooth needed removing you tied a piece of string round it, attached the other end to the oven door, and slammed it sharply. And worse  . . .  much worse.