‘Welcome to… Just a Budget! And as the Minute Waltz fades, I would like to welcome our many readers, not only in this country, but around the world (especially Brazil and the US), to this week’s show. I also welcome the very talented Tony Blair soundalike, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who will be talking for 68 minutes without hesitation, deviation, repetition or any mention of social care investment or health care worker reward.’ Respect to the dearly missed Nicholas Parsons.
It is almost exactly a year since I predicted, rather naively as it has turned out, that one possible silver lining of the current pandemic would be an appreciation of the importance of a well-funded health service, staffed by health care professionals suitably rewarded for their expert and selfless effort, and one flexible and well equipped enough to face any future onslaughts. That the derisory 1% pay deal offer (likely to be a pay cut, once predicted inflation is taken into account) was smuggled in through the small print should not have been a surprise, but the angry response, across party and public, suggests another misreading of the national mood. More surprising was the complete silence about the social care budget. The tail end of the pandemic has some way to go and details of the impact of so-called ‘long Covid’ are only just raising eyebrows.
On a lighter note, I hope you enjoy the second in our series on ways to help patients when using their everyday tech devices and keeping up to date with the many ways they can be set to maximise diminishing vision. As we went to press, a new study was published showing how simple screen enhancement makes computer use significantly easier for patients with glaucoma.1 I hope, as with lighting, we will be the go-to authorities on enhancing digital displays.