In the run-up to the upcoming election, Ed Miliband (leader of the Labour party via the Trade Unions) has tried to weaponise the NHS as a way to attack the Tories, only to be slapped down hard.
It turns out that the NHS in Wales has been run by the Unions and Labour (Wales) for over a decade and has far more significant shortcomings than NHS England, especially when it comes to things like cancer.
A member of my family who lives in Wales has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. This family member has visited doctors and hospitals more than several times over the last decade (and was diagnosed as having diabetes), but the cancer was missed every time until recently, having spread to multiple organs and making surgery impossible.
NHS Wales is not part of the Cancer Drugs Fund, unlike NHS England, so my relative is unlikely to receive life-extending medication. In my personal opinion NHS Wales (as the personal fiefdom of Labour) has failed to live up to the claims that Labour have made. I am fully aware (intellectually) that it is but one case and is probably not emblematic of NHS Wales as a whole, but emotionally, I am infuriated and disappointed with NHS Wales.
Ed Miliband has claimed that only he can save the NHS. If my family's experience is any indicator, he intends to save it from efficiency, professionalism and capability of doing at least most of its job.
My apologies to anyone who reads this and is working for NHS Wales. It has turned into a very emotive subject for me and although I have strong emotions about this, it is not my intent to lash out at anyone.
It is the system itself that I currently mistrust.
