The envy of the fecking world is, as it has done every year for the past two decades, claiming that it is at breaking point and that it needs more cash if it is not to collapse within weeks of the start of the year. It is an annual ritual and, as we bang our pots and pans demanding that GPs on £100,700 get even bigger pay rises even though almost half still refuse to see patients face to face, or that hundreds of diversity directors on £75,000-£100,000 are vital in the fight against covid and need pay rises too, do we ever question the scale of waste? How much does the NHS spend on things or staff which make not a jot of difference to patient outcomes. Over to the Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust and its Black Lives Matter art contest…
How much does Candace Bedu-Mensah its “Race Equality Project Lead” cost the grateful taxpayer? And how much was spent on its Black Lives Matter Art Contest? We are told that the project was organised by Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist Mark Love (left) and Art Instructor Simon Wess (right), who are based at Guild Lodge, Preston. Both are guilty white liberals natch.
Mark said:We need more appreciation, balance, and celebration of African and Caribbean-heritage individuals. In the world and in particularly on social media platforms we need positive representation of our diverse communities. So let’s inspire those around us and do this through art.” That may be the case Mark but why should the NHS be spending cash it claims not to have on this matter?
Incidentally the ten suggested black role models seem an odd bunch. Is Beyonce, for instance, a bigger figure in Black History than, say, Nelson Mandela? Is Chris Ofili (a painter specialising in the use of elephant dung) a more important figure than, say, Jomo Kenyatta or Desmond Tutu.? Is Peter Tosh, a guitarist with Bob Marley, a greater figure in black history than Chinua Achebe or Shaka Zulu. The list suggested looks rather Western centric to me. Surely, and I am not joking, Diane Abbott,Britain’s first black female MPshould be seen as a pioneer who has done more for the black community that the elephant dung chap?
But the bottom line is that the NHS cannot, on the one hand claim to need more cash to deliver better patient outcomes, and on the other hand spunk cash on things like this.
