The British public (of which I am one), don't know the half of it.

Someone I know very well, whose identity will be kept secret to safeguard their job, works in the PALS and Complaints Dept of a major NHS hospital.

Some of the stories she hears about are beyond belief. Not only are depserate things occuring but often they are dismissed with a simple apology and the hope it goes away, or, swept under the carpet completely to protect those involved.

I had my gall bladder removed in 2019, just before the pandemic and I can honestly say, the care I received from those on the front line was first class. I was lucky in a way in that I had to rush to A & E on two separate occasions in agony. They had to see the issue through to completion, without me having to wait.

It is the behaviour of those in managerial and adminitrative positions that leaves me aghast.

Unfortunately, the NHS has now become a monster. It is too big a problem to be solved without attracting huge criticism from the general public, who, for whatever reason, think the NHS can do no wrong.

The general concensus is it is underfunded. The call is always for the Government of the day to thow more and more money at the problem. Unfortunately, this will only disappear down a black hole leading to cries for more. The NHS is broken and its failing processes, overseen by incompetant managers and staff are allowing this to spiral out of control. All the time, the front line staff are trying to keep it afloat and look after their patients in the best way they can.

Back to its percieved popularity. If a Goverment was to genuinly take on the reform of the NHS and make a real difference, it would be a massive vote loser, costing them the next election. There in lies the problem.

As with any organisation, if the will from the very top is not there to really get to the bottom of the problem, this lack of action filters all the way down through every department. In the case of the NHS, it it being so large, it has taken a long time to happen, meaning no one can, or is prepared to identify what is actually going on.

Unfortunatey, we have reached a tipping point. Covid has not only seen to that but has also given them a credible, in the eyes of the public, excuse for its poor performance.

I don't think anything will happen until excess deaths are being recorded in their thousands and action is forced upon the Government.

I think that day is coming, fast.