I have to agree about the NHS. Yes, they get slagged off by the press and public, but when you need them, they are there.
I recently had a heart attack (minor), and went to my local hospital A&E thinking it was indegestion.
I was rushed straight in for a barrage of tests, then admitted to the Coronary Care Unit. 4 Days later (I was admitted on the weekend, no consultants), I was transferred to another hospital where I had an Angiogram and had 2 stents fitted. I was out on the Thursday.
Throughout my stay, I was impressed with the professionalism and the humour of the nursing staff.
What did this stay and operation cost me personally?... £2.90 for the patientline crap at the bedside so I could watch TV whilst lying still for 5 hours!
(For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, Patientline is a system that provides TV, Telephone and Internet services at the bedside in hospitals - the internet service is rubbish, based on Windows CE from what I could see when I crashed the system
, and the service is generally a rip off).
I really does sadden me that the nurses get such pathetic pay for the job they do.