Politics: Historic Plea to Govt About NHS

Aneira Thomas was born at Amman Valley Hospital in Carmarthenshire just after midnight on July 5, 1948, making her the first NHS baby as she arrived just one minute after the service launched.

She was named after the MP Aneurin Bevan (left) who was Clement Atlee’s health minister between 1945 and 1951 and led the creation of a national health service for the UK.

Thomas went on to have a lifelong association with the NHS by becoming a mental health nurse. She took the occasion of her own and the NHS’s 69th birthday to pay tribute to the service by writing a public post on Facebook.

She praised all NHS staff and drew attention to the high stress of the job – something that has led to an exodus of nurses since 2014 – before demanding that the Government reward this effort by scrapping the public sector pay cap and giving the service the urgent funds it needs to survive. Recently the chairman of the British Medical Association Dr Mark Porter said that the service was at “breaking point” and running on “fumes” as a result of government austerity.

Value our world class health service

“Sixty-nine years ago at 12.01am I was born. So was our National Health Service,” said Thomas (left, with her mother Edna). “As the first baby born into the NHS the doctor and nurses named me in tribute to the Labour MP Aneurin Bevan, the minister and true visionary behind the creation of our public healthcare service which was founded on the proud principal of universal healthcare for all that is free at the point of use. It is without doubt our greatest national treasure.”

“Today in my birthday and the birthday of our public health service and I pay tribute to all the dedicated team of NHS workers who care for us all. They are nothing short of heroic.

As a former mental health nurse myself who has seen first-hand the stresses involved in doing the job we love I urge the government to treat our national heroes – our amazing doctors and nurses – with the respect they deserve. It must urgently scrap the public sector pay cap and invest in our health service.”

“On the 69th birthday of our NHS the Conservatives must put an end to their cuts and value our world class health service and those who work in it. Aneurin Bevan left us a legacy and we must protect and preserve it. We led the way in 1948. Thank you, Aneira Thomas.”

Her timely reminder of the value of the NHS comes as the service’s outlook looks genuinely bleak. Now is not a time to lament the fall of our NHS but an opportunity to celebrate it and make sure that on its 70th, 80th and even 100th birthdays we see an increasingly strong health service ready for every challenge the future holds.

by Stewart Vickers @VickHellfire

The post Politics: Historic Plea to Govt About NHS appeared first on Felix Magazine.