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Written by: Kamran Mofid

Published: 13 May 2013

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WHY ARE WE TRYING TO FIX THE ONLY THING IN BRITAIN THAT DOESN'T SEEM BROKEN?

“We love our health service. We love it in a way that has no parallel in other countries. Few people in Britain call into question the healthcare system. In one 2012 study, only 3% of people felt the system needed to be overhauled. The next most satisfied country has more than twice as many people questioning their arrangements. It compares with a rate of about 10% across Europe and 25% in the US. The social consensus is so strong around the NHS that dissenting voices sound jarring. When a Conservative member of the European Parliament, Daniel Hannan, described the NHS as a "mistake" on US TV, there was genuine shock and surprise back home.

Our relationship with the NHS is better explained by the way it came into existence. Because the NHS was created as a single national entity, we have a single national brand that encompasses almost every aspect of the healthcare we receive. The letters NHS represent the whole package: they stand for social equality and universal healthcare; they stand for the doctors and the nurses who treat us or our relatives and to whom we are grateful; they stand for the miracles performed daily by modern medicine; they stand for the financial systems that make sure we don't have to worry about paying.

It is hard for people in other countries to feel such a strong attachment to their national healthcare system because there is often no obvious brand to which sentiments can attach. It is hard to imagine how people could feel a similar sense of loyalty to their health insurance policy or the particular hospital in their town.”…Roger Taylor, The Guardian, 9 March 2013

Roger Taylor, God Bless the NHS: The Truth Behind the Current Crisis, Faber and Faber (7 Mar 2013)

Roger Taylor examines the ideology behind the current reforms and the reasons why the government decided to take on the nation's most treasured institution. God Bless The NHS is a frank appraisal of the patchy history of attempts to reform the NHS and the likelihood of success this time round. It confronts the political failure at the heart of the problem -- and the inevitable conflict when politics and medicine mix.

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WHY ARE WE TRYING TO FIX THE ONLY THING IN BRITAIN THAT DOESN'T SEEM BROKEN?

The NHS, our only 'national religion', has never been more popular. Yet 2012 saw one of the most bruising political battles ever fought over its future. It cost the Coalition dear and shredded the reputation of the Secretary of State for Health.
So why did they do it?

Roger Taylor examines the ideology behind the current reforms and the reasons why the government decided to take on the nation's most treasured institution. God Bless The NHS is a frank appraisal of the patchy history of attempts to reform the NHS and the likelihood of success this time round. It confronts the political failure at the heart of the problem -- and the inevitable conflict when politics and medicine mix.