Of crumpets and the NHS

A teatime Revelation

A while back, there was a TV advert for crumpets where the company (Warburtons if memory serves me correct) had a competition for the most original answer for where the holes in the crumpets came from. I recall there being one suggestion the golf shoe wearing leprechaun's were the reason behind the holes (maybe a tricky through play perhaps?). My suggestion was that an oxidizing reaction of the ingredients took place producing bubbles of air and that really they should have know that without asking members of the general public to write in, though this was not what the company were intending I think.

So, by now your thinking "what on earth are you doing talking about crumpets, Nursing Students Musing?". You would be right because normally comparing anything to do with Nursing, Hospitals, University or the NHS to crumpets is normally the same as comparing stamp collecting to being an extreme sport.

However, yesterday I was struck with the sudden urge to wonder why the crumpet hole mystery could not be applied to the NHS. You see, I remember a time when nurses were short but recruitment good, finances were not the over burdening worry which they are today, there was no such thing as a Doctor worrying when being told their career had been "modernised". More worryingly is the fact that nobody seems to be able to appropriate the blame for this mess. Staff blame the managers, Mangers blame the government, the government blame the patients, the patients blame the staff and having reached an infinite loop philosophy and reason knock off early at this juncture and go to the pub.

So while this crumpet baker may have wanted a children's story, perhaps we can run a competition open to everyone: "Why is the NHS the way it is?". Most credible answer wins the satisfaction of...erm...a job well done.