Wednesday 5 May 2010

Choice.


For the first time in at least 5 years today patients, and those who work in healthcare, are being given a real “Choice”.

It is called a General Election.

We, the United Kingdom electorate, have a choice and what a choice it is.

All politicians use the health service as a football to kick around as they please until the football is punctured, deflates and does nothing useful and then like delinquent youths they find something else to trash or have a fight over.

So for those of us in healthcare we now have a real “choice” that we can exercise and hope to influence possible “change” as those in the US have recently done.

Change is a great word but only if it is for the better. Most grunts on the ground know that subtle change (if ever allowed by politicians) can sometimes make a huge difference in healthcare. Unfortunately politicians do not do subtle they do sound bites.

The patient and their care should always be our priority and not a political football.

It is a choice to vote, or not, and it is a choice that the Party cannot determine.

We will use it and we would urge those who have a vote to use it, please. If you have never spoken to those who do not have a vote who envy those that do, you do not realize how valuable a thing it is however much you may despise politicians or feel that your vote is worthless.

Whatever the British public decides today those in healthcare will still deliver a service to the patient as an individual to the best of our ability tomorrow.

In the same way that if you handcuff a boxer’s hands behind their back that might influence the outcome of the fight the only thing that by and large will influence your healthcare is your choice of politician.

Please choose wisely but, given the recession, regardless of the outcome things in healthcare can only get worse. It is not much of a choice but it is still a free choice that we can, if we choose, exercise.

Praise be to the Party for finally giving us real choice.

Tomorrow will tell us our choice but today we shall go to work as usual with a slight detour at some point to put an X in a box.

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