I received a leaflet through the post this week, the cover looking like the above. Now, I’m not one to shun something free (once an accountant, always an accountant!) but the image and wording on the front cover just reminded me of how I feel a change of perspective in healthcare is desperately needed in this country.

Look at the cover! Whilst it calls itself “The National Health Service”, what it actually is is a National Illness Service. Rather than encouraging the constant striving towards better health and vitality by wise lifestyle choices, the NHS proposes that we constantly run in fear of disease; that disease is some random act of chance that is unavoidable and ‘in your genes’.

Even geneticists agree that less than a quarter of the factors responsible for our state of health are genetic in origin.

So, maybe we should spend less on pharmaceutical drugs, as a nation, and more on education, sporting and exercise facilities and other opportunities for improving the nations health. Certainly, the current approach seems not to be working for the NHS. So, let’s try something new…or didn’t the ancient Chinese already understand this?