The NHS, 74 years of free health care and just a little rock and roll

Apparently, I may have become a flashpacker. More of which in a moment. This week’s blog posting comes from the delightful Riad Alili, in Marrakech, Morocco. And it’s hot! Marrakech was once a ‘side trip’ to the ‘hippie trail’, an overland route that usually ended in Kathmandu. It was popular with young people during the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Those on the hippie trail would carry very little luggage, have very little money, and hitchhike their way across Europe. They passed through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and eventually arrived at Nepal. They were the original backpackers. I imagine it would have been a fabulous trip, but sadly I never got the chance to do it.

In my youth, I totally embraced the hippie culture. I grew my hair (kind of white man’s Afro buzz), I had a magnificent beard, listened to psychedelic music, wore beads and bangles, and then there was free love, enough said, maybe. Strangely (and thankfully) all through those years I never did drugs. Unfortunately, for me, I was born just a few years too late to make the hippie trail. The closest I got was spending a wonderful summer traveling around continental Europe and ending up in Amsterdam for a couple of hedonistic months. Marrakech became part of the hippie trail, partly due to musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens (younger readers ask your parents who these people were) who frequently stayed there.

Our riad is located in the Medina quarter, the oldest and most traditional area of the city. It is a beautiful place run by the fabulous Gambotti family. They fell in love with Morocco on their first visit, came back, and bought the riad. It is a stunning place, with just five suites situated around a courtyard with a pool and wonderful gardens. I would describe the whole ambience as being luxurious, and the service first class, which is where becoming a flashpacker comes in.

Flashpackers are travellers, usually in their mid-30s to 60s, who actively seek out authentic and unique experiences.  They want that truly impressive travel experience, and although typically their trips tend to last from 4 -10 days, they cram as much into their time as possible. So we have done all the tourist things, including an early morning visit to the Jardiniere Majorelle, with its vibrant blue back drop to some magnificent plants, my J looked so good too. 

We did the obligatory getting lost in the souk, watched the snake charmers, avoided the monkeys, did a sunrise hot air ballon ride, Like other flashpackers, time  was the issue for us, not cost. We simply wanted to do it all. Flashpackers are not interested in the two week beach holiday, and like us, they wouldn’t identify themselves as tourists, but as travellers. The catch is that you need to have a bit more money than backpackers typically have to travel in this way.

Way back when I was backpacking around Europe, I had very limited funds. Although I’m far from rich now, I do have more disposable income than when I was younger. That said, writing this blog in the midst of the cost of living crisis makes me feel very uncomfortable. Whilst I have worked hard for what I have now, I have also been given many opportunities to flourish throughout my life, and for that I’m very grateful. Nevertheless, like many others, the cost of living pressures means that I’m beginning to make lifestyle choices that a year ago just weren’t an issue.

Of course, many other folk have long been making difficult choices way before the current situation emerged, and not just in the UK either. In planning our Marrakech trip, I was interested in finding out a little bit more about the health care system there. If you are poor, you are unlikely to have your health care needs met in any meaningful way. Whilst Morocco has both private and public health care systems, these are not provided to the same standards we find in Europe. Like the UK, there is a shortage of doctors and nurses. And in the public sector, nurses are more ‘attendants’ than the highly skilled and university-educated UK nurses. 

In the public health care system, you will be expected to supply much of the non-medical resources. So, bring your own sheets, blankets, pillows and so on, something to eat each day and absolutely you will have to pay for all medical equipment used. This will not only include x-rays, scans and so on, but syringes and dressings for example. All follow up care such as out-patient care will also have to be paid for. Meanwhile, private health care in Morocco is thriving! It’s altogether much better, but like those flashpackers, you will have to pay for the services you get. Most people using private health care services are covered by insurance, but there are some things that you will still have to pay for. Visiting your GP in Morocco will cost you £8 - £10. In comparison, visiting your GP in England will cost the NHS £39.00. In Morocco, a hospital stay will cost you around £300 a day, although you don’t have to bring your own sheets and so on. In England the cost is around £400 a day, a cost the NHS picks up.

In making these comparisons I know I may not be comparing like for like. But, and it is a big but, we all need to do more to think about the true cost of our ‘free at the point of service’ NHS health care provision. The current cost of living crisis is not just about food, rent, and energy costs – it’s all of these and more, particularly how these feed into public-funded services such as the NHS. There is no mythical money tree, so just like the choices we are now having to make in our own lives, the NHS will inevitably need to think about what it can continue to provide and to who gets what services. 

And I would urge a pause for contemplation here.  According to the BMJ, one in eight people struggling to access health care due to the long waiting lists are now turning to private health care services to receive the treatment and care they need. This is a growing and worrying trend. I will fight with my last breath to keep our NHS free from any form of privatisation. In this regard I stand up and applaud all my colleagues who continue to make the NHS one of the best health care systems in the world. Please don’t believe everything you read about in papers like the Daily Mail, Telegraph, or the Express; or even what you might hear on BBC news programmes. 

Finally, I hope you will forgive my momentary lapse of reason in becoming a flashpacker. The awareness of time passing has become more important to me than ever before. Long ago I embraced the idea that we have but one life and we should live it as best we can each and every day. I will be back in the UK next week, but today that day will be spent in Marrakech.