Have you ever wondered whether the modern machinery that is used in the home increase or decrease the health hazard’s that are in existence, listening to people talking I have come to realise that with increased use of the tumble dryer has brought about the decrease in ironing your clothes and bedding. These days when the clothes are taken out of the tumble dryer the modern housewife smooths them out while they are still warm folds them up and puts them away in the airing cupboard, job done. Now just think a minute how hot do the clothes become in the tumble dryer, is it hot enough to kill germs? The good old-fashioned way of getting out the ironing board waiting for the iron to heat up usually to produce steam also produces sufficient heat to kill most germs that are still left on the clothes, even after washing. People were proud to be wearing nicely ironed clothing and the freshly ironed bedding somehow the other always looked fresh and inviting.

How often do you see someone scrubbing their doorstep? The doorstep is a barrier between you your home and the outside world with all of its germs and dirt, more often than not you have a doormat which used to be taken out and beaten but now it just has a vacuum cleaner run over it and not always sufficiently.

How many of you remember the old isolation hospitals where the nursing staff were used to treating contagious diseases. Now it appears as though the main idea of a hospital is to throw the patient out into the wide world as soon as the medical staff think they can cope.

What on earth happened to the convalescent home where patients were built up healthwise to be able to cope outside?

In 1948 or thereabouts when the National Health Service started it was all supposed to be free, free dental treatment free glasses, (how many of you remember the first free NHS glasses wire-rimmed and hooked over the ears?) Yet they were good sturdy glasses that stood quite a bit of knocking around and being sat upon. These days the dental service can be quite expensive especially for the people who are just above the income that enables them to have a free service and yet they are not earning enough that they are able to have all the treatment that they need. If you look closely there are a considerable number of people who need treatment but can’t afford it. Yet strangely enough it appears that it was the Labour government that brought in changes that made a visit to the dentist more expensive, even to the point that some people just didn’t go.

I wonder how many of you remember or even know about some of the practices used by people to solve some of their dental problems, we all know about the piece of string tied to the tooth and the doorknob and the slamming of a door usually pulling the tooth out, somewhat painfully but at least it was out. But did you know about a practice that was quite common in the country areas people used to make their own false teeth out of wood? Naturally they ensured that they were using a hardwood such as oak. With the introduction of cement some poor souls even made false teeth out of it. At times it must have felt as though you had a mouth full of grit.

Wouldn’t it really be better if the whole health service including opticians and dentists were part of the civil service and paid according to the civil service ranking?