Opinion: NHS birthday is worth celebrating

Wednesday was the NHS’s 75th birthday. It was wonderful to represent the people of Peterborough and attend the anniversary service at Westminster Abbey, and to thank NHS workers past and present for their contribution.

Since 1948, the NHS has adapted and evolved to meet the needs of patients over its 75 year life. It will do this again.

This was evident during the COVID 19 Pandemic. Front line workers battled during one of the toughest periods in our history since the Second World War to save lives.

Together with the Army and thousands of volunteers, NHS workers got jabs in arms and we all overcame that awful period.

Without the NHS things would have been far worse. The reason we were able to manoeuvre our vaccination project so rapidly was because of our ‘national’ health service.

The NHS has always been special to me. It was the reason I came to this City.

I was 5 when my Mum and my Dad moved to Peterborough, to work in our NHS.

My father managed the Child and Adolescence Psychiatry Unit, and my mother as a sister at Dove House.

Growing up with both parents working for the NHS, I always knew first hand just how tirelessly they work and how important they truly are.

Nurses, doctors, dentists, midwives, paramedics, mental health professionals and many more unsung heroes in the background all improve the health and wellbeing of millions of people every year.

It is important to remember that the NHS is a public service, one funded with working people’s tax money.

There is no getting around the fact that improvements are needed. The Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, said we need evolution not revolution - improving the service without radical reform.

Waiting lists are too high, we need more GP appointments and dental appointments are too hard to come by.

But we have a plan to build the NHS for the future.

Community Diagnostic Centres are part of that plan and we are getting one right here in Peterborough. The preferred site is right next to Asda in our City centre.

It will deliver 67,000 scans, tests and checks each and every year. It could be open as early as 2024.

It will also mean people get a diagnosis at an earlier stage. This will save lives.

There is certainly work to be done on the road to improving the NHS.

However, now is the time to celebrate the individuals who work tirelessly to save and improve lives up and down the country every single day.

I am proud of the NHS. Happy 75th birthday! Here is to many more to come.