Thank you very much Nat. I was apprehensive about this post and I'm so glad it resonated. And thank you very much for sharing your experiences. I'm realising how important it is to be able to do that.
I'll never understand our almost pathological resistance to designing a care system that actually works. We apparently have endless money for all kinds of schemes, wars, 'VIP fast-lanes' and more, but as soon as anybody asks the question about whether we might spend a few quid to make people comfortable and live with dignity, suddenly it's the end of the world. You can be a milionaire and the state will throw buckets of cash at you willingly, but if you're just a normal person then you need to navigate a maze of dystopian checks and inquisitions to be granted a sum which wouldn't even get you through a Gregg's sausage roll, never mind a basically dignified life.
Regardless - despite the official support - it seems to me like you're doing as good a job as you could hope to do. Thank you for sharing - and I hope your Substack is giving you more people talk to than your dog - wise and supportive as he may be!
Great comment Tom. Notwithstanding Boris Johnson's then promises on the steps of number 10, a combination of political short term-ism and right-of-party pressure on taxation will always shift community care provision onto the too-difficult pile. A whisper that either Party would significantly increase taxation would be political suicide, with an NHS continuing to be a bottomless money pit, care provision stands no chance!
This post is incredibly human. I can relate to every moment. My mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer. As a family, we decided to tell her it was stage two to give her more motivation to fight. We provided her with the best doctors, medication, and nutrition. For four years, we fought together. I even turned down career opportunities to be by her side. I would do it all again if it meant she could live longer. Being with her brought me immense happiness. There was a time when we thought we had won the battle against cancer. Unfortunately, this disease rarely loses. But at least she lived a normal life for those four years. Thanks for sharing this, Paul! Happy Saturday to you and your loved ones.
Thank you very much Nat. I was apprehensive about this post and I'm so glad it resonated. And thank you very much for sharing your experiences. I'm realising how important it is to be able to do that.
I'll never understand our almost pathological resistance to designing a care system that actually works. We apparently have endless money for all kinds of schemes, wars, 'VIP fast-lanes' and more, but as soon as anybody asks the question about whether we might spend a few quid to make people comfortable and live with dignity, suddenly it's the end of the world. You can be a milionaire and the state will throw buckets of cash at you willingly, but if you're just a normal person then you need to navigate a maze of dystopian checks and inquisitions to be granted a sum which wouldn't even get you through a Gregg's sausage roll, never mind a basically dignified life.
Regardless - despite the official support - it seems to me like you're doing as good a job as you could hope to do. Thank you for sharing - and I hope your Substack is giving you more people talk to than your dog - wise and supportive as he may be!
Great comment Tom. Notwithstanding Boris Johnson's then promises on the steps of number 10, a combination of political short term-ism and right-of-party pressure on taxation will always shift community care provision onto the too-difficult pile. A whisper that either Party would significantly increase taxation would be political suicide, with an NHS continuing to be a bottomless money pit, care provision stands no chance!
This post is incredibly human. I can relate to every moment. My mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer. As a family, we decided to tell her it was stage two to give her more motivation to fight. We provided her with the best doctors, medication, and nutrition. For four years, we fought together. I even turned down career opportunities to be by her side. I would do it all again if it meant she could live longer. Being with her brought me immense happiness. There was a time when we thought we had won the battle against cancer. Unfortunately, this disease rarely loses. But at least she lived a normal life for those four years. Thanks for sharing this, Paul! Happy Saturday to you and your loved ones.