Death on the NHS

There have been many complaints in recent years concerning the decline in standards in the National Health Service. At times people are left to die of cold and thirst and malnutrition.
And then of course, when you are admitted to hospital there is always a good chance of picking up some deadly virus because of the filthy wards.
So it is said.
One big problem concerning hospital generated illnesses is the buildings themselves. In our town, the now demolished Victorian Infirmary had high ceilings and windows that opened. The modern hospital has low ceilings, is overheated, and the windows do not open. It is a breeding ground for germs.
Depending on your point of view, you might claim that the Health Service’s problems are caused by lack of funding, or the funding being spent on bureaucracy.
But I think the problem runs a little deeper than that. Being over worked and under resourced cannot explain dirty wards and callous doctors and nurses rushing you to an early death.
Whether as symptom or cause, I cannot say, but in recent years the government has introduced the ‘tick box’ culture into the Health Service.
Back in the 1940s when the NHS was set up, most people did a job and took a pride in doing it well. They did not need the reward and punishment of a ‘tick box’ culture. Teachers, doctors, nurses, cleaners, civil servants, shopkeepers, tradesmen, worked on principles of donated power. We were still a long way from the ‘greed is good’ egotism of the 1980s and onwards. People worked  because to work was to be alive.
Although most men worked in the economy of expropriated power, most women still saw their main purpose in the more important sphere of donated power, of giving from their abundance.
They cared for the young and for the old. There were few ‘kindergartens’ and few nursing homes.
Few services were bought, most were given. There was still a large support network, not just in chapels and at the bingo hall, but in the back yard and in the family too .
Women’s professions were few and frequently reflected women’s domestic responsibilities, cook, cleaner, dinner lady, nurse, teacher. But there were enough professions to ensure the independence of women who preferred to remain unmarried.
All women were drenched in the culture and expectations of the gift economy
As women’s work has become hollowed out and society has collapsed, women have become demoralised. There’s not much dignity in being monitored and regimented.
Grudging work and callous attitudes are the inevitable consequence of the enslavement of all human activity.
At the end of the day, it is pride in your job that gets things done.
This cannot be legislated for, ticked off, bought and sold, rewarded and punished. It can only be given freely.