Category: Politics

Sexual Orientation and the NHS

Pity the NHS frontline staff who now have to query all patients about their sexual preferences.

I used to work at NHS Direct and they brought in a rule that all callers must be asked their ethnic group. We were all a bit wary. Guess who took the most offence?

The white British, that’s who. All the minorities cheerfully divulged their ethnicity and carried on with the assessment. Many British people took umbrage and demanded to know what difference it made. Nasty comments were not rare: Do I get treated faster if I’m black?’ Either that or they shouted at you: ‘British, mate. I’m British. British born and bred. As British as Nelson, and Drake and Churchill. Stick that in your little computer!’ So I did.

Mind you, when you ring up because you’re worried about an illness or your child is very unwell the question is extremely irritating.  I know how they felt.

Even so, the question is not the fault of the person asking it and definitely isn’t their idea. So please be kind to the NHS frontline staff. Be kind.

 

P.S. Arnos Hell my exciting horror novel set in an NHS call centre on Halloween has just been re-issued at all good ebook retailers. I unpublished it for a rewrite (see ‘cut and improve’ blog) and the new improved version is out now.

New story in June issue of The Fifth Dimension

My political SF story Campaign Trail features in the June issue of The Fifth Dimension, published by Nomadic Delirium Press. It’s available from their store and also on Smashwords and Amazon.

It’s about how big corporations influence elections, relevant given that Trump has just quit the planet’s biggest environmental program. He says its for jobs for the workers. Ha! It’s profits for the corporations that interest him. Or perhaps he really enjoyed the film Waterworld and wants to make it happen.

Potus Trump

I’m currently reading a very good book –  The Kennedy Brothers – about Bobby and Jack Kennedy and their father’s links to the Mafia. There’s also lot’s of stuff about the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. under J.Edgar Hoover. All this is old news by now but it goes to show how imperfect American politics was even when the average citizen thought it was a golden age – Camelot indeed.

Just before the election there was a good program on the BBC by Rich Hall on the Presidency. He was interviewing a Clinton aid who was asked by Bill how he should handle the Monica Lewinsky crisis. His advisor said he could point out that FDR wasn’t faithful to his wife, Eisenhower wasn’t faithful to his and Kennedy certainly wasn’t faithful to his so therefore Bill was next in a long line of great Presidents.

Clinton did not think this would be a good statement.

What will Trump do with power? We’ll have to wait and see.