st opt-outs 1 06-03-2014

many, many years ago, in the late 80's, i did a regular cartoon strip for the nursing times about life at the eponymous st opt-outs hospital. this was the period when margaret thatcher first introduced the internal market, created hospital trusts and allowed them to opt-out of local health authority control. i was prodded by @marcuschown to dig them out of the bottom drawer not least because they are a (not entirely historically accurate) record of the initial assaults on the nhs which have culminated in the near-terminal blows being dealt by the present government, and because some of the 'jokes' seem as pertinent today as they did back then. the cartoons feel antique and clumsy and sometimes really not terribly funny at all and i was tempted to keep them hidden from view. but... ithe internet is like a much, much larger bottom drawer, right. and you can blame marcus chown...