Kishwar Desai | Costly makeover at 75th b'day for NHS?

If it’s raining then it must be the season for tennis at Wimbledon, and cricket at the Lords. It is as though the rain gods declare: “Let the Games Begin !”

So at Wimbledon you have long queues from early morning to get tickets, agony at the rare English hope struggling to justify the enthusiasm of the spectators but plenty of strawberry and champagne to provide solace against the triumph of the foreigners. So far we have seen the English drop off one by one. But we are hoping against hope one or two may make it to centre court.

We are also in the life and death (for cricket fanatics) Ashes series. England have invented something called Bazball which requires them to play Test cricket like an IPL match. So at least, there is speed and action. So far Australia have won. We are currently in the third encounter and if Australia win this one, there will be general mourning across the land. As it is, when Bairstow was stumped for being out of his crease (he thought the over had finished) at the Lord’s, it looked like a war may break out between the two countries let alone the two teams. England lost that one, but as many said they also lost the plot and the spirit of the game. When an Umpire says Out, you just walk back to the pavilion. Never complain. That is cricket.

We need these diversions because the situation is otherwise dire. We have continuing inflation and strikes and now resignations from Parliament which bring by-elections which the poor Conservative Party does not want. The politics is more noisy than Bazball and Wimbledon put together.

This week happens to be the 75th anniversary of the National Health Service — our beloved NHS. But everyone is agreed that it is old and decrepit and needs rejuvenation. This is going to be costly. It is like your grandfather having to be got treatment which gives him a new body plus a lively mind and then plenty of nourishing food so he can feel young again and run the marathon. It is an occasion mixed with sadness, since we know in our hearts that much as we may love our NHS, it is not going to be easy to revive. But then we say that NHS is the only religion the British have. We have empty churches, but overcrowded hospitals.

Luckily, anniversaries do not come singly. We have another 75th anniversary to celebrate. Back then in 1948, a large ship load of 500 African origin people arrived from the Caribbean. They were, of course, subjects of the King Emperor, and had every right to come to the heart of the Empire. They also came with hopes of getting a better life for themselves and their children. But then they had a much rougher welcome than what they had hoped for. The local population proved hostile, racist and ignorant. At a debate to celebrate the anniversary someone from a Windrush family described how his father was a trained dentist yet his mother was asked on the high street by a woman, “Did you live  in a tree before you came here?” The mother gently said no. They lived in houses like those in England. The son, meanwhile, has risen to be a famous educationist and sits in the House of Lords.

This group came in a steamer called Windrush. So we have a Windrush generation of Afro-Caribbean citizens who have contributed to arts, music, sports and of course Parliament. London has become a multi racial City with the wonderful Notting Hill Carnival and soon will have a Windrush Museum. 

There is a link between the two anniversaries. Many of the people coming on the Windrush joined the NHS as nurses and doctors and made it the great service it is. They suffered discrimination when they came as well as bad housing and a hard life, but now they are a valuable part of the community.

Of course, people also came from India and Pakistan, some directly and many via Uganda and Kenya. The first generation mostly came from both parts of Punjab and Bengal — Indian and Pakistani. Then came the refugees from Uganda. They revolutionised the grocery shops and spread the taste for Indian cuisine. But they were also doctors and pharmacists helping the NHS. After all, we have a Prime Minister of Indian origin, whose parents have medical connections. His ancestors came from India via Africa to England. But he has a big problem. How to prevent more people migrating to England illegally in boats supplied by people smugglers.

May be they should let in anyone who can win at Wimbledon or score a century at Lords’. This may be a crowded country but we need more success stories.