Create a day of remembrance for the NHS – and build a new society

The spirit of the Thursday night applause for the health service can change this country for the better, writes Jim Duffy

So the Queen has weighed in and I for one feel a bit better. Listening to Her Majesty made me feel a bit patriotic and a tad emotional. But, she hit the notes just right to make me feel optimistic.

The former chief medical officer for Scotland is exactly that – gone. And while I debated with myself for hours on her potential demise, I decided that it was a mistake and she should be allowed to carry on and not be persecuted. But, while I cogitated, the pressure grew and either she or the First Minister capitulated and threw in the towel.

Now President Trump has found his first “scalp’ to divert attention from his woeful performance – the World Health Organisation. And I hear Roger Daltrey is far from impressed. Boris Johnson hit the hospital and the nation was shaken again. How could this happen?

But, as the lockdown continues, we now thank the NHS staff and care staff by applauding them all on Thursday nights. Thank goodness there is something wholesome to applaud – for now.

The world is about to hit a massive recession. Do not think for one minute that all this stimulus, 80 per cent wages paid and money to charities is cash from a big safe that the Chancellor has in his office. No, it is debt and this debt is mounting up. With this recession – or, as some commentators are quietly and rightly calling it, “depression” – will come the bill. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

But, how to pay this bill, which will be billions and billions of pounds, is now being planned somewhere in Whitehall. They have two choices. The first choice is austerity again, a process where the likes of the NHS is decimated. Or the second choice is that they can build, invest and innovate. Now, here is where chancellors, finance secretaries, first ministers and prime ministers need to listen and listen good. It’s all about the NHS.

Let’s build out a new nation, a new United Kingdom, a new Scotland by celebrating and commemorating the NHS. Here is the fulcrum upon which to build out a better society and a more positive long-term balance sheet. Here is my blueprint for the next decade of growth and a better sense of “together”.

First up, we commemorate wars, so let’s commemorate this one. This whole episode has been likened to a war. From Churchillian utterances by Boris Johnson to calls for the nation to unite behind one cause, it feels like we have battened down the hatches. There is a sense of oneness. We all want to come out of this free again and dance in the streets.

But, lest we forget, I say now is the time to set a day in the calendar every year to celebrate and commemorate our medical and health staff. A new Bank Holiday, where NHS and care staff are remembered as being the backbone of this nation. Perhaps, we now take our Thursday night applause and formalise this into a day of remembrance. With that comes investment and Scotland should lead the way.

The slightest hint at cuts to any NHS operation when we are free of Covid-19 could start a national backlash. So, any minister out there should be listening hard to this one. Pile money into these good folks. Make the NHS the best and then even better. Grow it, nurture it and build it out again as world-leading and world-class.

From there will come a great opportunity to strengthen social fabrics and unite a nation around one great entity they can be proud