Here’s a challenge for any commentator – to link the results of the Eurovision song contest and our health care system. The UK, where we pride ourselves as world leaders in contemporary music, had a dismal result on Saturday.
Other European nations have raised their game and 100m viewers cannot all be wrong. Despite Terry Wogan’s self righteous bleating suggesting tactical or political voting, the result may simply reflect changing musical tastes.
One might make the same accusation of the Irish vote that gave a high score to the much unloved UK entry, but their votes for Poland and Latvia, may be an accurate reflection of the musical preferences of the new Irish demography.
So, where is the health message? At a recent visit to an academic department in England, I suggested that the BMJ might not be quite as interested in publishing papers describing local arrangements for health care in England, and that, perhaps, the UK was no longer the best or most envied health care system in the world.
This met with the same disbelief as the Eurovision result. But how would our European colleagues rate our health care? Have your say on the blog.
Domhnall MacAuley is Primary Care Editor, BMJ