As my late friend Gordon showed, a better NHS is worth fighting for

Gordon could have given up then. Instead, he began a campaign for better funding for MND, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds and attracting support from comedians and politicians across the ideological spectrum. Right up until his death in 2017, Gordon believed that things could get better.

This week in England, the UK Labour government launched a national conversation about NHS England by asking people to share their experiences. Already, the website is filling up with ideas. Of course, it’s the daft suggestions that grab the headlines, but behind the scenes, staff and patients are lending their expertise. The government promised to change the NHS and it’s already taking the first steps.

Unsustainable pressure

In Scotland, where health is the Scottish Government’s responsibility, we’ve been promised a national conversation, but after 17 years in power, the SNP is dragging their feet. It announced it would start a “national programme of engagement” in June, but we’re yet to hear a peep.

Meanwhile, A&E waiting times this August were the worst on record, setting the warning lights flashing for winter when pressures on the NHS are most acute.

In England, the UK Labour government has identified three major strategic shifts for the NHS: analogue to digital, hospital to community, and sickness to prevention. Anyone who’s tried to book an appointment or seen multiple specialists knows that when it comes to digitalisation, our 70-year-old NHS deserves an upgrade.

It’s clear to staff and patients that the pressure on hospitals is unsustainable, while delayed discharge leaves the treated in limbo and the untreated waiting in corridors. Many people work from home; it should be possible to create the right conditions and equipment for patients who are medically fit for discharge to recover there too.

Cutting-edge research

We’re also living longer. But while a woman in Scotland can expect to live to over 80, her healthy life expectancy is only 61. Combatting obesity and smoking and more screening for cancer and other diseases will take pressure off our NHS and also improve our quality of life.

Gordon Aikman, sadly, didn’t get the chance to grow old. But when I visited the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh this week, I had a glimpse of the future he wanted to see. Attracting researchers from across the world, Scotland’s universities and life sciences industry are performing cutting-edge research into everything from supporting pre-term babies to slowing the march of degenerative diseases.

It's easy to get depressed about the NHS when elderly patients are languishing in corridors and NHS staff are forced to quit because they’re stuck on waiting lists. But this is also a time of great innovation and promise.

Just as scientists and visionaries helped find a route out of the pandemic, there’s plenty to be excited about when it comes to creating an NHS for the future. If Gordon was still here, I know that he’d get stuck in.

Jackie Baillie MSP is Scottish Labour’s deputy leader