I walked into the small pharmacy. An elderly man wearing khaki joggers and a big grey padded jacket was being served. He spoke kindly to the assistant wishing her a good day as he shuffled out of the door. Was this the only human contact he had that day?

I asked for prescriptions for two people – myself and my wife. Two large bags of medication are brought to the counter and handed over. I showed my wife’s exemption card and left the shop with the meds. No fuss, no issues, no charge! 

We are so fortunate in the UK – this should not be taken for granted. Over 60, or an underlying health condition and no payment is required. We do not have to think about saving money by skipping on important medication. In most cases we don’t need to think – eat or medicate? We generally don’t have to worry about shortages or supply issues, although this is another thing we shouldn’t take for granted. We go onto the health app, tick the medicines required from the repeats list and click the order button – as simple and as straight forward as that. Then wait for a text from the pharmacy to say that the prescription is ready to collect before driving over to physically collect.

Okay, it could be argued that we are only getting what we are entitled to and after all many of us have paid a working lifes worth of National Insurance contributions, but I will never take any of this for granted particularly when I hear about people in other countries where they have to pay high prices for things such as diabetes meds. No – we are very lucky in this country – I for one will always be grateful for the National Health Service (NHS).