Alice Mahon, the former Member of Parliament for Halifax and a long time supporter of the NHS, has finally experienced at first hand the atrocious realities of British nationalised healthcare. 

Having spent years pontificating about the wonders of an equitable state run health system she has finally come up against the institutional reality of the NHS.

Having sadly lost much of her sight in one eye due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) she now looks set to lose it in the other one because Calderdale Primary Care Trust has refused to fund a medicine which might well help to stabilise or improve the situation.

Complaining she has “been an ardent supporter of the NHS all my life, and now feel totally let down” she quite rightly saw the light and has gone down a radically different path. To avoid totally losing her eyesight she has privately self funded to the tune of £5,325.

Just think, if only she had thought more rationally about health policy over the years she would not be in this sorry state. If only she and her colleagues had done us all a favour and campaigned for more co-payments or an expansion of private medical insurance then millions of people would not be experiencing the type of shoddy, restrictive and rationed service she now is.