The NHS is 60: undervalued, under-funded, undermined

I'm posting Brecht's poem 'A Worker’s Speech To A Doctor' to draw attention to the recent publication of a pamphlet by the Radical History Network of North East London, The NHS IS 60: undervalued, under-funded, undermined. Including a number of accounts of organising within the NHS and without, the pamphlet 'attempts to see clearly through the manufactured euphoria which will undoubtedly emerge around the 60th anniversary in July 2008 and provide a more realistic view.' There is surely much material which could provide further reading of interest to fans of Mme Tlank's recent article on surveillance and control under marketised welfare [http://www.metamute.org/en/The-Battle-of-all-Mothers] Copies of the pamphlet can be obtained from RaHN c/o Grove Park Road, Tottenham, N15 4SL.

A Worker’s Speech To A Doctor

We know what makes us illWhen we are ill, we are toldThat it’s you who will heal us.

For ten years, we are toldYou learned healing in fine schoolsBuilt at the people’s expenseAnd to get your knowledgeSpent a fortune.So you must be able to healAre you able to heal?

When we come to youOur rags are torn off usAnd you listen all over our naked bodyAs to the cause of our illnessOne glance at our rags wouldTell you more. It is the same cause that wearsOur bodies and our clothes.

The pain in our shoulder comesYou say, from the damp; and this is also the reasonFor the stain on the wall of our flat.So tell us; where does the damp come from?

Too much work and too little foodMakes us feeble and thinYour prescription says;Put on more weightYou might as well tell a bulrushNot to get wet.

How much time can you give us?We see: one carpet in your flat costsThe fees you earn fromFive thousand consultations.

You’ll no doubt sayYou are innocent. The damp patchOn the wall of our flatsTells the same story

Bertholdt Brecht