On big name pundits and on the NHS

This is going to be a long post because it covers two topics ... one completing the post from Tuesday, correcting an error ... the other about the NHS.

First the Tuesday post ... I was criticising big name alt-pundits with "shows" on TV and radio ... mentioning Benny Johnson and Emerald Robinson in the States but I was also thinking Hannity and Beck, even Alex Jones.

Though still not enamoured of "empire builders" on the back of news, there is a flip side to the argument ... the big names do attract the attention of people like ... for example ... DJT:

And the fact is ... "smaller" pundits do not. There it is.  Meanwhile, back over here in Blighty ... if Rupert is to be believed ... don't get ill. If you do, your chance of treatment is slim, unless you go private:

I find it so difficult to believe that in 2025 Britain, different parts of the NHS just refuse to talk to each other. The lack of joined up thinking in the health service is just remarkable. Sheer incompetence at every turn, and we're expected to be grateful for this third world level of service? Let's say you manage to get a GP appointment through the 8am rush. Nobody has anything better to do at that time, right? You get past the grumpy receptionist who wants to know everything about your private condition. You navigate her, somehow. You get the appointment. Congratulations, that's the first step of very many until you actually reach the right medic, who can then put you on the correct waiting list for a procedure, after waiting in the previous two different queues to reach that person. Months later. You're told by the GP, often in broken English, that the specialist will contact you within a few weeks to arrange the next step. Obviously that doesn't happen. You chase, and the new receptionist has no record of the referral. You insist, and get promised an appointment in three months. Doesn't seem ideal, does it? That then gets shifted around, and you have to wait again. Finally, you get to see supposedly the right person, but it turns out it isn't. They don't have the right test results, and you find yourself on another waiting list again to see a different specialist. That arrives, and it turns out you need a scan. Again, you're told the department will contact you to arrange it. The call never comes. You wait, and eventually lose patience. Ring yourself, and get it organised for a few weeks. Why does nobody in the NHS communicate?! Do the scan, then it's back to see that first specialist. They have to chase the results up. Could we not just have done the scan and skipped that first step? Saving months? No? Okay then. Great. The problem is finally identified, and congratulations - you're on another waiting list. This time it will take six months, not six weeks. All to get the issue finally resolved. Could go private? And pay thousands and thousands to see exactly the same NHS specialist who also works privately? With no guarantee of getting it sorted? It's a risk, a big financial risk. So you wait and wait, hoping it doesn't worsen. The stress is quite something. I had prostate cancer myself. I understand the worry, the stress, the sleepless nights. It is pure torture. Maybe the treatment date gets shifted for some unknown reason, maybe it doesn't. You go in, they've got the time wrong. You wait, and wait, and wait some more. You feel like an inconvenience to the staff. Finally, hopefully, you get what you need. Sometimes it gets resolved then, sometimes it doesn't. More waits, more incompetence, more issues. Unreal stress, unnecessary stress - at what is already the most challenging time of your life. It is wicked and cruel what the health service puts people through. Frontline staff in the NHS do important work, nobody is doubting that. But the people in charge, those actually responsible for how the service operates? No. Not good enough, and they should be held accountable. Many should be sacked, to be honest. In the hundreds and hundreds... The health service is not free. We all pay an increasing amount of tax for the NHS. We deserve a better service, which shows more respect for our time and our health. I am sick of the boring and undeserved NHS worship culture. We need to radically overhaul the NHS. Not minor reform, I mean a total and complete overhaul. Nothing off the table. More politicians should have the balls to say it.

The obvious question is ... is this actually the case? Is Rupert exaggerating it? Have you been able to get treatment or checkups where you are?  Personally, I'm thinking it's best not to be ill nor to have an accident.