Is Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) being transformed into a ‘National Death Service’? These are the extraordinary claims being made by political activist Sammy Grink, who is arguing that the NHS’ current crisis is the result, not simply of Tory austerity economic policies depriving it of funding, but rather an ideologically driven attempt at social engineering. “It seems clear to me that Tory policy for the last nine years has been to increase NHS mortality rates – through underfunding, part privatisation and disruptive management restructuring – in order to reduce the numbers of the poor, disabled and elderly,” he declares. “It is, in effect, institutionalised euthanasia of the deprived, disguised as a funding crisis.” The government has been quick to counter these claims, asserting that the reason for the latest crisis in the NHS, with A and E targets not being met, is down to there being ‘too much demand’. “The current situation is simply the result of the confluence of circumstances rather than a deliberate policy,” Tory health advisor Ronald Sneed reassured a press conference. “Everybody knows that an unexpected cold snap has contributed to unexpected levels of illness and injury, leaving the NHS unable to cope with the demand for its services. It is that simple – there is no sinister conspiracy!”

Grink is unconvinced by such explanations, pointing out nobody should have been surprised to find November cold and failed to prepare for inclement weather at this time of year. “Besides, as I recall from my study of economics, the solution to excessive demand for a product or service is to choke it off, usually by raising the price,” he opines. “Obviously, the NHS doesn’t have that option, (although, give the likes of Boris Johnson a few years in power and you never know), so how else could it ‘choke off’ demand when it becomes ‘excessive’? By denying the really sick adequate treatment, parking them on trolleys in corridors for hours on end without being seen by medical staff. You know the sort of thing.” The activist contends that the Tories have been deliberately undermining the NHS financially in order to turn it into an instrument of euthanasia for the lower classes. After all, he argues, those most likely to use the NHS, especially during hard winters, are the poor, the infirm and the elderly. All of whom, it could be argued, are a drain on society.

“Damn it, most of them are probably claiming benefits as well. So by culling them via the NHS, the government could save a whole shit load of money in terms of benefits, pensions and ongoing healthcare costs,” Grink says. “Moreover, if they vote at all, these people are also more likely to vote Labour, so the Tories would be denuding the opposition’s vote as an added bonus.” By contrast, he points out, the sort of people who vote Tory can afford private health care, have private pensions and never have to rely on benefits. “Believe me, the running down of front line health services like A and E are just the start of it – waiting lists for stuff like cancer treatment are increasing alarmingly. That will mean significant numbers of poor people dying before they can be treated,” he asserts. “Then there are maternity services: an increase in infant mortality rate will disproportionately hit the less well off, who traditionally produce more children than the wealthy – they’ll undoubtedly want to thin out the ranks of the poor before they have the chance to claim any benefits!” The brilliance of the Tories’ scheme, he believes, lies in the fact that people <i>expect</i> they might die in hospital. “Nobody questions hospital deaths as everyone knows that people die in hospital,” he says. “That’s how they’ve been getting away with it for so long!”

Sneed, unsurprisingly, dismisses Grink’s allegations as wild and ridiculous speculation. “Look, we remain committed to the NHS as a universal health care system,” he says. “I mean, only the other day Boris Johnson was making an election pledge to build more hospitals and boost NHS spending.” When pressed as to where this proposed new NHS funding would come from, Sneed claimed that it would mainly be generated by savings in other budgets. “As it happens, we’re expecting a significant decline in benefits payments and pension payouts,” he explained. “The number of claimants for both have been in steady decline. A decline we expect to continue apace.” He also promised that the proposed new hospitals would be fully equipped and staffed. “They will be able to offer health care services of the highest order,” said Sneed. “WE’re especially proud of their planned morgue facilities, which will be able to process record numbers of patients at unprecedented speeds.”

Nevertheless, Grink remains convinced that we’re seeing is a repurposing of our National Health Service into a National Death Service. “Damn it, they’ve been using the media to normalise the idea that people routinely die when treated in NHS hospitals for years, so that people accept the higher mortality rates,” he says. “I mean, why else do you think that patients in TV hospital dramas suffer such a high attrition rate? If we are to believe the likes of <b>Holby City</b>, then even going into hospital with an ingrowing toe nail could easily prove fatal.” He also contends that such TV series also reinforce the idea that it is normal for doctors and nurses to be so overworked and fatigued that they are bound to make mistakes which prove fatal for patients. “The truth, of course, is that they are deliberately overworked by the government, in order to ensure more fatalities,” he explains. “But thanks to this TV propaganda, people now accept it as the norm, an acceptable risk when you go into hospital.” Grink has expressed frustration that his revelations have not, so far, been given more political exposure. “Damn it, we’ve got the Tories turning our hospitals into death machines, but the opposition remain silent,” he says. “When is Jeremy Corbyn going to start calling the bastards out on this, that’s what I want to know.”