Woe betide anyone who criticises Britain’s healthcare system. In a great example of how one tweet can motivate thousands of people, the UK’s public healthcare system is being defended on Twitter this afternoon.
The hashtag #welovethenhs is currently a top trending term after a single tweet by the comedy writer behind such hit sitcoms as Father Ted and The IT Crowd. Graham Linehan was criticising an American article quoted on Boing Boing that claimed the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) treated disabled people poorly. One tweet of the link followed by #welovethenhs has led to an outpouring of people’s positive experiences of the NHS.
The rate of tweets coming into Twitter Search using the hashtag is astounding; they’re over 50 per minute right now. Some of the heartwarming tweets coming in include:
- “My eighty-something Grandfather has more incurable cancers than you have fingers and is receiving tremendous care as I type.”
- “In 5 yrs my mum has had cataracts done, heart valve replace, hip replaced and had top care after a stroke. Thank you NHS”
- “NHS saved my life, twice. Also delivered my beautiful girl who happen to need a few surgeries & we didn’t worry about paying.”
Hilary Jane Gray sums the situation up perfectly: “NHS is like your hometown, you can insult it but woe betide anyone else who does”.
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