Healthcare is proving a real ball-breaker for Obama. It’s kicking his arse good and proper. But how come? The Nurse wonders why Americans have got their knackers in such a twist about the UK’s National Health Service.

She can only assume they don’t like the idea because they don’t understand it. You’d have to be mad not to want free healthcare for everyone… wouldn’t you? 

Here’s a quick run-down for our American readers. This is how our NHS works: 

• if The Nurse was out of prison, ill or injured, she could turn up at any UK Accident and Emergency department, in any UK hospital, for free treatment
• if she needed an ambulance, she’d call one. They’re free
• if she was diagnosed with an illness or disease she’d get all the free treatment she needed to cure her – if possible – or keep her comfortable if not
• that includes operations, treatment, hospital stays, drugs,  specialists, consultants and surgeons
• you never have to wait long for an urgent operation
• if your doctor thinks there’s a risk of cancer they’ll get you into hospital for tests within two weeks
• for non serious stuff, you just go to your local Doctor and see him or her for free, no matter what the problem is. They’ll even visit you at home in urgent cases
• most of us pay for prescription medicines but it’s less than a tenner a go. And contraceptives are free
• we pay for our NHS through the taxation system, which takes about a quarter of our earnings in tax and pays for much more than just the NHS 

So what’s your problem, Americans? The Nurse thinks a free health service must be better than letting your citizens die because they don’t have private health insurance. Or is she missing a trick?

This situation is plainly wrong. This woman didn’t need fertility treatment, she needed therapy. The financial cost of raising this enormous brood is estimated to exceed $3 million by 2025. That’s without even considering the risks to the physical health and well being of the poor infants involved. And who is going to foot this bill and endure the consequences of this woman’s misguided and selfish act? It was irresponsible to have provided this woman with fertility treatment when she clearly needs mental help.

Then we hear reports in our local news of a boy of only 13, who looks nearer 10, having fathered a child with a girl of 15, who looks nearer 40. This is just so wrong. Yet again, who will bare the cost of the selfish and thoughtless decision to allow this pregnancy to go to full term? We will. And who was responsible for not having educated these youngsters to be aware of the law regarding under-age sex? They should be punished. It’s astounding that, each year, there are an increasing number of pregnant teenagers in the UK who are so ill-informed and under-educated having given no consideration to how they will raise their children and the responsibilities of parenthood.

Stories like these make me despair. Why should I and others who take a responsible approach to life, pay taxes that are then used to support those who are irresponsible, inconsiderate and selfish. Our resources are limited and we are massively over-crowded yet we allow a single mother to produce 14 offspring and an immature 13 year old boy to father a child. It is just so wrong.

My colleagues and I have been wracking our brains to come up with a suitable seasonal gift for our friend who can be a little hard to please. Last year we chose a delightful Aromatherapy gift set from This Works, described as a survival kit for modern malaises. Unfortunately the nurse chose to resell the toiletries to her fellow patients as some form of narcotic and several nearly died after injecting body lotion.

Currently we are leaning towards a selection of novels as the Nurse is an avid reader. Books are always a good buy at this time of year, but which titles would be a good choice for a slightly deranged medical practitioner? The Nurse can be upset very easily and has, on occasion, been provoked to violence by nothing more than a classified advertisement for a television set.

Book tokens would be the answer, but since the Nurse isn’t likely to be able to visit Waterstones or W.H.Smith it will have to be an Amazon voucher.