This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the inception of the National Health Service (NHS) in Great Britain. To honour the occasion, the NHS commissioned the children’s laureate Michael Rosen to write a poem that young people would understand. The aim was to inform new generations of the ‘good healthcare should be available to all’ motto of the health service that has been so important to society as a whole over recent decades.
Michael Rosen, a great admirer of the NHS, was honoured to be asked to write the poem. The fact that the institution had seen his five children born in their hospitals and had later saved two of them from septicaemia and pneumonia was not something to be ignored or taken for granted.
“When I came to write this poem, I wanted to express the idea that it serves us cradle to the grave, but I also wanted to celebrate everybody in the service.” said Rosen. “There are many different kinds of essential work going on every minute of the day and I wanted to show that.”
Children asked about the poem gave it raving reviews which was the most important feedback the poet needed.
Theo, aged nine, a pupil from a school in Camden said: “I liked the way it had a constant rhythm a bit like a heartbeat. I think it would cheer up children going into hospital.”
Teachers too have been delighted with the piece.
“I think it is a delightful idea getting the children’s poet laureate to write a poem celebrating the NHS at 60,” said Steven Buzzard, a teacher. “We studied the poem and found it a really good way of teaching the children about the NHS and how long it has been going.”
Hospital directors, paediatricians, politicians and parents have all noted over the years how important the National Health Service has been to the country. However there is still work to be done and more children needing treatment and a sense of security. It’s hoped that Rosen’s poem will go a long way to helping bring down the mystery or anxieties of hospitals.
The poem is as follows.
‘These are the Hands’
These are the hands
That touch us first
Feel your head
Find the pulse
And make your bed.
These are the hands
That tap your back
Hold your arm
Wheel the bin
Change the bulb
Fix the drip
Pour the jug
Replace your hip
These are the hands
That fill the bath
Mop the floor
Flick the switch
Soothe the sore
Burn the swabs
Give us a jab
Throw out sharps
Design the lab.
And these are the hands
That stop the leaks
Empty the pan
Wipe the pipes
Carry the can
Clamp the veins
Make the cast
Log the dose
And touch us last.
by Michael Rosen
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