Money, money, money. The NHS is short of it. Less doctors, less nurses and less beds per person than almost all of the EU is simply a manifestation of a lack of money. For more headline grabbing stats just Google OECD healthcare report and you can see the NHS is struggling to balance the books and this is hurting outcomes. Today's announcement from the spending review will provide some temporary relief but the underlying funding problems still exist. 

In a room full of juniors doctors all at a course to learn surgical skills and suturing techniques yesterday there were murmurings of disquiet all through every break. Young people who were doing the same job in different parts of the country were all discussing the different options they had, and those they might consider, come the years to come when the Government’s various proposals for the NHS come into force.

I did not always grow up having the NHS in the background to fall back on. I was born and brought up in Malaysia, and only migrated here for the latter part of my secondary education, medical school and eventually junior doctor training. Malaysia, whilst having a socialised healthcare system, has severely limited government funding in comparison, and waiting lists are significantly longer than what the British public are used to on the NHS.

This is a letter written by Dr. Hoong-Wei Gan to their MP, Neil Coyle.

Dear Mr. Coyle,

High quality medical training is the key to a sustainable high quality NHS. The motivating force behind my decision to become involved in NHS Survival is simple, like many patients and doctors I have become increasingly exasperated and frustrated at the way in which structures have been 'reformed' in a rather evidence-free and potentially dangerous manner.