BBC’s Hospital.. so good BoJo might turn up with a cheque
There was a moral dilemma in BBC2’s excellent NHS series Hospital last night. Should £30,000 be spent on an operation that could help a 98-year-old man get his letter from the Queen?
Some people would say it’s too risky and too expensive, and he’s already had a good innings. Others would argue the NHS has no right to be ageist – and I’m inclined to agree with that.
Well, even if he only survived for another year he would get to see Channel 5’s Blind Date regeneration. You can’t put a price on that.
Yes, I’m being facetious. But watching programmes like this can inspire such flippancy at times. You see all of the wonderful and amazing things the NHS does, and it makes you feel untouchable.
Unfortunately, you then hear some battle-weary consultant say: “We don’t want standards to drop, but it does feel like standards are slipping.”
And it brings you back down to earth.
Not that this series has been a propaganda tool for those who say the NHS is in crisis. I’ve actually found it incredibly balanced.
It even offered the crisis-deniers the chance to label a poor Nigerian woman who lost two babies following a mid-air emergency “a health tourist”.
If BBC2’s aim was to shine a light and spark debate, I’d say job done.
I just hope the series ends on a positive note next Wednesday.
Who knows? Maybe Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage will show up with a down payment on that £350million…
You see the wonderful things the NHS does... and it makes you feel untouchable