At a time when it is clear the current US employer-based health care system is broken at best (and deadly at worst), Britain's National Health Service is celebrating its 60th anniversary. While my friends who have gotten sick in England can speak to its faults, the NHS does exist to offer quality, consistent treatment to all. The last lines of a poem by Michael Rosen speak specifically to the importance of the many health care workers in the Service:
That stop the leaks
Empty the pan
Wipe the pipes
Carry the can
Clamp the veins
Make the cast
Log the dose
And touch us last.
All I know is that when I got sick during my year in the UK it was glorious to be able to go to a doctor and receive treatment without having to worry that I would have to deal with reams of insurance paperwork afterward. A number of artists like Nick Sharatt (pictured above) have drawn cartoons that salute the NHS's 60 years, and you can see the rest of them in the gallery here.
