The NHS and the Labour Party.

In the foundation of the National Health Service in 1948 under the guiding light and creative energy of prime minister Clement Attlee. The background chap was no less creative in this innovative architecture for the nation. That man was professor of social policy and administration Richard Titmuss at the London School of Economics (LSE). He was one of my teachers at the LSE and had a big influence on me. His seminal book published in 1970 The Gift Relationship had as its core the importance of blood donation and what he termed the 'gift relationship and therefore one of altruism'. The NHS is based of altruism, I pay my taxes but I have no knowledge who will receive its benefits, just so with blood. This is an act of love or charity as St Paul says in I Corinthians 13. So built into the very foundation of the NHS is this act of charity and altruism. This is a revolutionary attitude to health care and has served us well since it was created back in 1948. So Ed Miliband's speech at the Labour Party was important as he set out his ideas underpinning the NHS into the future and up to 2025. This is a bold wish but needs a mandate from the British public in May 2015. I sincerely hope he gets it next year.