Britain's National Health Service is an easy target for critics.
The sheer scale of the service - a universal health service for a country of 60 million - invites sharp opinions.
So it was no surprise when the BBC's online Have Your Say column was deluged by a seas of ranters condemning the NHS as incompetent, inefficient and uncaring. Ironically, the column was prompted by Gill Morgan, chair of the NHS Confederation, who suggested that devolution has meant Britain now has four separate national health services. Having worked for the Confederation in Wales, I know that few organisations have a greater empathy for the service.
Karen and I have experienced the NHS at its best over the last few months. We're expecting our first baby in July and Karen hasn't had the easiest of pregnancies. Our GP, Dr Taylor in Chalfont St Giles surgery, is my idea of a perfect GP: caring and sensitive. We've been able to get appointments at a couple of hours' notice, which has made our lives so much easier On New Year's Day, Karen's morning sickness was getting dramatically worse and we got an appointment with the out of hours GP in Amersham.
He recommended that we go to our local hospital at Wexham Park, near Slough. The triage nurse saw Karen quickly and was lovely. (Despite suffering a very busy 24 hours caring for people who had drunk far too much on New Year's Eve.)
Karen spent two nights at Wexham, and was full of praise for the care she had received. That care was given regardless of income or health history. Yes, we had funded the service through our taxes. But we would have received the same care even if we'd paid little in tax had we been on low incomes. The NHS isn't perfect, but it's nice to know that fellow Welshman Aneurin Bevan's creation is still doing good 60 years on.
PS: just one loud complaint. The cost of car parking at NHS hospitals is a scandal: £1 an hour regardless of the time of day or night.
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