Articles
"We have a family friend who's been suffering with cancer for quite a long time. And their treatment’s been put on the back burner for months now because they have to prioritise coronavirus patients. Obviously you understand, but it's a really difficult thing when you're looking at somebody who's 55,...read more
"About the free NHS... I really believe the country now needs quite a serious conversation about what that actually means. It's not free, we all pay for it. And, clearly, we need to pay more. "
"A number of folks that I know who work within the NHS talk about how they're regularly understaffed. And, to me, that's an issue of either the working conditions or the level of pay. "
"I used to be so worried that every time I speak, people will be like ‘Oh, she's bringing the race card in again’. And I didn't for many years. I'd be like ‘Okay, I'm the only black person in this room, let me not make it about colour’. But actually,...read more
"Where somebody is really very acutely mentally ill, the provision of that care at that point is often extremely good. But as you drop down from that, [from] really acute crisis point into slightly less acute needs, [care is less] comprehensive or consistent."
"Me and my brother didn't live near our parents, but we had to keep going in and trying to get answers. We had to keep fighting for good care and to understand the system."
"I have an 87 year old mum who lives on her own. She hasn't got social care, but the family looks after her. There is surely some way. We've got agencies like Age Concern and various others. But it's all on the phone or on a website. And it's very...read more
"Staff within both the care and the health systems are underpaid, understaffed, under recognised and never given the appropriate time. My daughter, who's a podiatrist, says that they've done better out of Covid because they have to clean between each of their appointments. This has given her enough time to...read more
"I think the best thing about the NHS is when things work together and things flow. And I think the best thing that's come about from Covid is that people haven't thought about their own little structures. They've thought about what needed to be done to get on and resolve issues. "
"If we want a social care service that's anywhere remotely resembling the NHS, that is free at the point of access for anyone who needs it, things will have to change very radically."