The NHS is widely admired internationally and its performance has been independently assessed to be one of the very best in the world. Healthcare funded by general taxation the most efficient system for the delivery of care and with a genuine commitment to quality, kindness and innovation, the NHS is an institution of which we should be justly proud. It symbolises the pinnacle of a social solidarity approach to meeting the health needs of the UK. Since 2010, however, the values of the NHS have been profoundly threatened by a government that despite its sweet words, acts to undermine it by wasteful re-organisation, shoddy treatment of its workforce and too little funding. The NHS’s capacity to treat, care and innovate is struggling now as never before in its history.