In common with a lot of people in the UK, I’ve been watching the US healthcare debate with mounting bewilderment and indignation, particularly because of the allegations being made about the UK National Health Service (NHS). Over the last week or so, I’ve seen ever more bizarre claims being made about it’s inadequacies, which bear absolutely no resemblance to the system I’ve used all my life. No, it’s not perfect. It’s an enormous organisation run entirely by human beings, and human beings are fallible. However, for the overwhelming majority of people it works. It’s there when we need it; we can visit a doctor, or attend A&E knowing the first question we’ll be asked is ‘what are your symptoms’, not ‘how are you going to pay’.

One of the positive outcomes of all this crazy talk (from people who seem to have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo) is that we Brits have, for once, appreciated just how lucky we are. Yes, we are a nation of whingebags, we like to complain, and complaining about the NHS is right up there with complaining about the weather as one of our favourite national pastimes. However, it’s a bit different when we hear criticism coming from other quarters. That, we don’t like. We might take our health service for granted; we might moan about car parking, cold dinners, rude doctors, but that doesn’t mean anyone else can. As the #welovethenhs threads on twitter show, for the vast majority of people in the UK, the NHS is an important, and fundamental part of our society, one we hold deep admiration and respect for.

At a time when we hear so much about the breakdown of society, it was heartening to see so many people uniting behind a cause that benefits the country as a whole. And surely this unity should send a message to NHS critics across the pond. Shouldn’t they be asking themselves why we hold it in such high esteem if it’s as inadequate and evil as they say? You’d think so, but they won’t, because their response is that we’ve all been brainwashed by a socialist plot. Oh yes, Dear Reader, I am merely a spokeswoman of a Stalinist regime. (This is where I do something I rarely do on this blog, I’m going to swear, in English: To paraphrase Jim Royle – Stalinist plot, my arse!)

It’s easy to see why some people might believe the NHS is socialist; it epitomises Marx’s ideal of  “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”. But, as anyone with a grasp of British history will know, the NHS (and the labour movement) has it’s roots in good, old-fashioned Christianity. Forget anything Palin the Peabrain and her band of malodorous  minions have told you, the NHS is not an evil, communist brigade who kill people’s grannies, it actually grew out of a long European tradition of religious orders providing healthcare to the poor – which meant pretty much anyone who wasn’t a king or aristocrat. The reason so many British and French hospitals are named after saints, is because they were originally adjunct to monasteries, whose monks tried to emulate the healing work of Christ by providing what passed for medical treatment at the time.

If you are a Christian, you might be familiar with this Christ chappie, and you’ll know that when He wasn’t walking on water or organising large picnics, He healed the sick. At no point during the healing process did He stick out His hand and ask for 30 pieces of silver. That wasn’t His style. He believed He had an ability and it was right for Him to to use it as it was needed. That’s how the NHS works. Collectively we all fund it, assuming we’ll rarely need it, but knowing it will be there when we do. And in the meantime, other people who do need it get the care they deserve as fellow human beings. We do this because we can, and because it’s the right thing to do. I think Christ would approve.

Updated to add: For an amusing video on the topic above, go here. With thanks to Chairman Bill

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