It’s slightly embarrassing to admit that I caught the end of Eastenders recently.
Now let me make it absolutely clear I am not a fan – in fact I can’t stand the programme – but I’d just returned home after a particularly long day at the sharp end and after tea I just wanted to collapse in front of the telly and switch my brain off. This process was going quite well until I saw one of the characters using his mobile phone. There it was, full-screen: a new Sony mobile phone. Even the BBC can’t avoid a bit of accidental product placement once in a while.
Going slightly off-tangent – and you’ll have to bear with me here – there are two massive issues about the NHS at the moment.
Firstly, doctors and nurses (and probably everyone else working in the NHS) are very stressed.
Secondly, the current Secretary of State for Health is just a teeny bit unpopular with most of the workforce.
So, how could the Department of Health try to solve these two problems? Well, I’ve got an idea – and it involves product placement.
What we all need is one of those stress balls in the shape of Mr Hunt. All the Government would have to do is buy a job lot and distribute them to all NHS hospitals and GP surgeries for free.
If we all had one it would serve as a constant reminder as to who is causing all the stress, and more importantly something to swear at and squeeze into horrible shapes to help reduce stress and lower blood pressure. You never know – unlikely as it is, we might even learn to dislike Jeremy a bit less. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate in product placement?
Dr Hadrian Moss is a GP in Kettering, Northamptonshire. You can tweet him at @DrHMoss.
