What Happens When Healthcare Becomes a Privilege

I’ve been thinking a lot about the NHS lately and why this election matters so much to me.

I live with endometriosis — a condition that can be absolutely devastating. Over the years I’ve had around eight surgeries. Without those operations, I honestly don’t know what state I would be in now. Living with chronic illness is exhausting enough already.

Have I always had faith in the NHS? No.

My mum was neglected, dismissed and sent away too many times. Watching someone you love not be listened to is one of the worst feelings imaginable, and ultimately we lost her. That pain never leaves you.

So this isn’t blind loyalty. I know the NHS is struggling. We all moan about GP appointments, waiting lists, delayed care and overstretched services — and often with good reason.

But when I think about what the NHS really is, I don’t just think about hospitals or politics. I think about people.

I think about the midwives who delivered my children with such care and patience during one of the most vulnerable and life-changing moments of my life.

I think about the GP who truly listened when I finally disclosed parts of my past and the impact it was having on my mental health. Being heard in that moment mattered more than I can explain.

I think about every operation, every prescription, every scan, every exhausted nurse still showing kindness at the end of a long shift.

And I think about where many of us would be without it.

That FIT test that catches cancer early and saves a life. The operation that gives someone their mobility back. The physio, the emergency care, the cancer treatment, the mental health support.

The NHS is imperfect, underfunded and exhausted — but it is still one of the few systems left that says your life matters whether you are rich or poor.

The answer isn’t to strip it back further or push it further towards profit. The answer is to protect it, improve it and fight for the people holding it together every single day.

Please think carefully when you vote. For some of us, this isn’t abstract politics. It’s personal. It’s survival.