Free of charge but costly

We have had reason to attend two NHS Fife hospitals over the past few weeks, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall, and we are so grateful for the treatment we received. Our needs were met with care and kindness, as well as with skill and professionalism. The system is complex, the staff numbers are huge, the running costs are staggering, but we found that individuals matter.

 

I’m told that NHS Fife is the largest employer in the county – I cannot think what the wages bill must be. The equipment costs are well into millions of pounds, from thousands of sterile syringes and hundreds of BP monitors up to large body scanners and X-ray machines. Then add in heating, cleaning, catering and servicing costs, and the admin office work to support each function. We benefit from it all, provided free of charge. However, I was quite horrified to find out that wasted medicines cost NHS Fife £2.1 million each year. Those of us who get the medicines free have a responsibility there.

Handling tragedy

 

Hasn’t the world gone crazy? It seems I am writing about this a lot recently. We recently witnessed the tragedy of four young men’s deaths in a car crash in Liverpool. Whatever the cause, the heartbreak for everyone involved is devastating. It was one of those sobering events that makes you stop and think - what if it was me? What if it was my son? Why do such things happen?

I am writing from Uganda at the moment. The other morning I met a lady with two young boys that I assumed were her grandchildren. I was right, but sadly discovered that their mother (the lady’s daughter) had died unexpectedly in November last year. I pondered - why the young lady and not someone older? Why are those little children left without their mother? I cried as I thought about it.

Singing is wonderful

 

Singing is wonderful. My son has had hearing difficulties all his life, but one of the many things we enjoyed when he was a toddler was his ability to sing. He would sit on the floor when he wasn’t being watched and sing tunes he had heard us sing and things he had picked up in church. We were amazed that despite his hearing loss, he could still sing in tune.

On my visits to Uganda, I am always greeted by village children who line up and sing a welcome song. Their rhythm and melodies are heartwarming and beautiful to listen to. This is happy music expressing words of greeting. Despite their obvious poverty, they have found hope. That hope is grounded in faith and anchored in a person - the Lord Jesus Christ. One of my favourite Bible verses that expresses the hope of the gospel is found in Romans chapter 15 verse 13 - ‘Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit’. This guarantees present joy and peace when a person believes what God has promised. 

A sad man

I was sitting in Wick, Caithness, as I wrote this column. I have visited this area several times over the years. Like many places, it is a beautiful part of the world on sunny days, and today the sun is shining, making everything very pleasant.

One of my reasons for visiting this part of the world is to give talks on the book of Jeremiah, which is part of both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Jeremiah wrote roughly 2,600 years ago and was a Jewish prophet tasked with informing his fellow compatriots that their ethics were deeply flawed. He warned that if things did not change, they were heading for disaster. Additionally, he had a message for the surrounding nations, which were characterised by greed, pride, and evil practices such as child sacrifice.

I have been struck by how people reacted to Jeremiah's message and how similar their reactions are to my own responses when I hear something I don't want to accept. I believe that the Bible is God's message to humanity, and the truth contained within its pages calls for a personal response from me.