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Don't get me wrong - there are some fantastic things the NHS provides including free at point of use medical care. However, there is something that worries me about the way in which it is spoken of in hallowed terms and that any critical thought or alternative is blasted down as if heresy. Philosophically speaking the NHS is not a "person" but a collection of people employed to deliver a health service on behalf of tax payers. Many, if not most, are very hardworking individuals who have a tremendous sense of vocation. But, and here is my "but" it is only a "system". Yes, it was patchy before its inception, as was most healthcare around Europe. Yet, there were some really heroic doctors and nurses before the NHS many working in church-based institutions on sacrificial wages, etc. I wonder if there is an untold story of all those ("Call the Midwives") ecclesiastical health providers who were suddenly nationalised? I mean at some point, for example, I presume all those hospitals that begin with "Saint" (eg. St Thomas' Hospital in London) were Christian institutions that had a distinct heritage. I can't find anything on them and I wonder what really happened. Because, presumably they had to roll over or were bought out by the State??

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