THE essence of a satisfactory health service is that the poor and the rich are treated alike, that poverty is not a disability and wealth is not an advantage."
So wrote one of my political heroes, Aneurin Bevan in his book In Place of Fear.
La
st week, I joined staff and patients at St John's Hospital to celebrate Labour's greatest achievement, the National Health Service, on its 60th birthday. A former senior nurse criticised St John's last week in a national newspaper, but while the hospital – like the NHS – has its challenges, it is night and day away from the days preceding Aneurin Bevan's vision for the NHS.
It is testament to the endeavours of NHS Lothian and the team at St John's that 98 per cent of the people who have been, or are, treated at St John's report that they are satisfied with the hospital.
The record of the NHS in improving the health of millions of Scots is impressive and one in which we can all take pride. We now treat many conditions which were previously untreatable. Immunisation and screening have reduced the incidence of many diseases which in the past have been the cause of great suffering, and our primary care services are admired by other countries where people do not have access to free treatment. An Irish friend on a recent visit to Scotland was astonished to visit a GP and A&E unit without being charged. In Ireland, she would have paid £60 to the GP and £100 at A&E.
But every year since its birth we have heard siren voices telling us that the NHS cannot carry on. Too many patients, not enough staff and too much illness. But what has happened? Year after year the NHS has coped with each new demand from the public and each new medical advance. We have found new resources and this year £11 billion will be spent on health in Scotland.
We can't know where the NHS will be in another 60 years but we must ensure that it remains committed to its founding principles which were first realised on that summer's day on July 5, 1948.
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Jim Devine is MP for Livingston 