BENEATH a sluggish, surly sky, the UK has been unusually active and upbeat. Even characteristic grumbles (mostly weather related and severely justified recently) have been good humoured. Our summer programme of events must surely have helped: the catalogue of things
to look forward to and suit every taste has established an ongoing pleasant anticipation: from Jubilee, to Euro 2012, to Wimbledon, to festival season, and, of course, the Olympics.


        Many of the Games’ torchbearers are not celebrities but normal people who have touched those around them and it is heart-warming to see entire communities gather to recognise that. The actual moment of torch illumination has blink-and-you’ll-miss-it status, but the atmosphere is radiating around the capital. At the Cutty Sark Gardens in Greenwich on Saturday morning, crowds had written off Friday night for a 6am start to get to the relay in time, and the atmosphere pre and post torch was joyfully festive.


        But while the focus on positive revelry is to be welcomed, it shouldn’t signal a moment for opportunistic forces to drive through unwelcome and damaging changes. The administration of the South London
Healthcare Trust – the first NHS trust to topple in this way - came into force last week and largely bypassed national attention.


        At an emergency meeting of residents in Charlton last week, the main concern was fear of a US-style privatisation of healthcare sneaking in the
backdoor.  What struck me most about the meeting was the lack of younger people present. Many of those concerned had known pre-NHS Britain and feared for younger generations who may take free
healthcare as a fundamental right -  as free as the air we
breathe and perhaps just as unappreciated.


         In 1948 - the year of the NHS’ birth - the then Health Secretary Aneurin Bevan said: “The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”.  His words seemed strangely chilling amid the heated conversation at the village hall. 64 years later, and, although the faith might not be slipping, awareness of what crucial changes are taking place and their implications perhaps are. There was unease at the
meeting that this south London trust might be a test-bed to witness public reaction and dissolve others into administration if not enough people were vocal.


        I recently experienced living in a Caribbean island based on the US model of healthcare and found myself becoming anxious about my health and trying to preserve it at all costs – a counterproductive attitude at
best – having to rely on friends of friends with spurious medical links rather than book in for extortionate doctors’ appointments.


        The Olympic legacy is set to be a positive one on the country, but amid all the hype, it shouldn’t be an opportunity for other fundamental legacies to fade out.