I adapted the name of this blog, “Cut For Stone”, from a line of the original Hippocratic oath made between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. It was devised by the physician Hippocrates for medical students under his tuition, as a means of ensuring potential physicians maintained an ethical manner and upheld their obligations. An abridged translation of the original line is as follows:

I will not cut persons labouring under the stone, but will leave this to be done by the [surgeons]

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica (http://www.britannica.com/topic/Hippocratic-oath)

The stone in reference is likely to be kidney stones or something similar. It is well known that surgery is a somewhat precise and, in unskilled hands, dangerous art; this part of the oath appears to encourage a humility in these early doctors. “If you do not know how,” Hippocrates seems to say, “then ask someone who does to help”. This, to me, is a good central stone by which to base this blog.

Again and again, we have seen officials blindly altering legislation without any heed to the words of experts speaking against it- as I write this, here in the UK, the Department of Work and Pensions is being looked into for their treatment of the disabled, and the Tory cabinet are dismissive that anything is wrong. Jeremy Hunt MP, in his tenure as the Secretary of State for Health, has faced widespread staff shortages and NHS budget deficits of potentially over £2.5 billion leading to a difficulty to maintain a proper quality of care. Recently, he made an announcement to insinuate that it was not he, but the BMA that was misleading junior doctors who had worked out that they were heading towards a substantial pay decrease.

I fully believe that these people are working with what they consider the country’s best interests at heart. Unfortunately, in their eagerness to sell the UK off to the private sector piece by piece, they have failed to consider fully the impact of their measures in the world of reality, not ideology. Using disreputable companies like ATOS to decide whether or not those in need are truly needy enough, and cutting tax credits away as if they were so much unneeded fat has created the circumstances which have led to widespread anguish, financial difficulties and in some cases, even death.

It could all have been avoided; it is currently almost being ignored- hidden, if you consider the changing of the definition of child poverty by Iain Duncan Smith as any indication. If only these people, in their pursuit of the “stone” in our society, had considered asking first where the stone was located, and exactly how one breaches a kidney like the NHS without harming it. Proper, evidence-based policies, taken fully into consideration and not rejected with derision, might have led to true success.

I believe the way to incite change is through transparency. Transparency puts pressure on those in power by laying bare their actions, that they may be judged by a jury larger than themselves. That is the purpose of this blog.

This post will in future take the function of a manifesto. I intend to write this blog with the following directives in mind:

• This blog will be for the purposes of news and analysis of current events within the UK.
• The NHS is one of our most treasured assets, and it must be protected for the future prosperity of our country.
• My writing will be clear, informed and current.
• I write in order to aid transparency in the opaque parts of the public and political spheres.
• I will try to the best of my abilities to put the needs of those in need first.
• It is possible to be wrong, and sometimes necessary in the search of improvement.
• I am opposed to the privatisation of public assets where it is demonstrated to put them at risk and/or to have a negative effect on the country.

Thank you for reading. First updates will be along as soon as possible.