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The NHS is on the brink of extinction - we need to shout about it
Government policy and privatisation mean the NHS as we know it will be gone in as little as five years if no one speaks up
The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has introduced policies that open up the NHS to private organisations. Photograph: Neil Hall/PA
In school, I remember being part of a play called The Emperor's New Clothes.
The plot revolved around a king who was tricked into believing that he was wearing a special outfit when, in fact, he wore nothing at all. His sycophants complimented him for his wonderful choice of clothing, and on the street scared commoners praised the invisible suit until an innocent little kid screamed: "Look, the Emperor has no clothes!"
The one loud proclamation sent the entire town into shock. However, since it was the truth, nobody could deny it any more. And eventually, the Emperor came back to his senses.
The NHS desperately needs that kid. Someone who could stand up and shout: "Look! The NHS is at the brink of extinction. And David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt are facilitating its demise on the back of an unmandated NHS Act 2013!"
I've got 35 years experience of working in the NHS, from a junior doctor to a GP, and then chair of a Primary Care Trust and now deputy chair of the BMA council. This has taught me that most things can be made to work - even across organisational and local authority boundaries - if you have the right working relationships which develop over time through honesty, openness and trust.
The way this NHS is being managed by Hunt and the government is a stunning example of how not to do things. The roadmap of their policies is leading to the complete privatisation of the NHS, a process that has deep roots in Thatcherite ideology.