It is true that British people love nothing more than talking about the weather. It is rare though for us to actually have weather worth talking about. However, the recent snowfall has given a reason for our weather obsession to feel justified. ‘The Beast from the East’ has caused schools across the country to be closed, people to be forced to work from home and even red alert warnings in certain areas. No matter what the weather though, our emergency services never get a day off. This is particularly true for hospitals and medical staff. They have shown their dedication to their patients, showing us why we should be proud of our National Health Service.
Many nurses and doctors across the country have decided to sleep at work so that they can make sure the hospital has enough staff to treat patients. This again highlights the absolute dedication that the NHS has towards treating the public.
The NHS has not had the best press in the world lately. There’s a shortfall in funding, and then there was scrutiny over the winter crisis, which was exacerbated by the flu outbreak. We know that the health service could be better. It could have more resources, it should be scrutinised, and there should always be a push to improve the service – whether this is improving patient care, keeping patients informed of their options and availability for funding, or making the health service more efficient in its delivery. Yet, during winter seasons like these it must be remembered how lucky we are to have an NHS at all.
We’re all struggling with the snow – but some people are working around the clock to be able to give help where it’s needed. It’s just another reminder of why we need to protect the NHS. While we’re all complaining about the buses not being on, or how bad the traffic is, there are people staying at work throughout the night just to be able to treat patients the next day. Thank you to our NHS, our doctors and our nurses for their dedication.