Member-only story
Bitches, I Ain’t Gonna Die Today
What it’s like getting a cancer check done by the NHS in Scotland in 2023.
I recently had my breast and a bit of lymph tissue biopsied by the beautiful, wonderful, awesome taxpayer funded NHS in Scotland. No cancer found. All that biopsy for a whole lotta nothing makes me so happy.
Let me paint a picture for my American audience:
I asked my GP for a referral to a breast clinic and she agreed that this issue merited that referral. Less than a month later I was in a breast clinic at an outpatient hospital near me that was also staffed entirely by woman!
At no point did I feel uncomfortable or unnecessarily exposed. At no point did I feel pitied for not being in private care like some public care services in the States have a way of making you feel. The NHS is truly for everyone. Oh yeah, and at no point did anyone ask for my insurance or billing information, nor did I worry about a bill. That is what taxes are for, mate.
So look, a week later, I got a scheduled call from the consultant who has weekly meetings with her other specialist colleagues to reach a consensus on patients’ work ups, and I was told there was no worry. Just like that.
I went directly into my garden, shouted “All good!” to my partner, and we had a little hug jig around the daffodils for a sec. Then I went and sat in the sun and smiled a lot.
I didn’t realise how nihilistic I had become in the last month or so. I feel a great weight off my shoulders. I can actually get on with my life now, as opposed to how it would be if I lived in America. I would be struggling to pay the bill for the work ups and consultation.
Which brings me to what is happening to this wonderful institution, even as it helps me and millions like me every single day.
The current government has been designing things to fail for over a decade, NHS, police, education — everything they want to privatize for profit. Because that worked so well with the water and power and transport systems. Ahem.
Well, the knifepoint on which I believe a change will occur in this country is the health service.
We might be too dumb to know if education is really as good as it should be everywhere in…
