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What an autumn, it is proving to be for Britain's hospital services. Rarely a day has passed recently without them making the headlines for one reason or another. Medical negligence, hospital superbugs, waiting times and, refreshingly, some good news too, have been filling up acres of column space and hours of airtime. The NHS is at the forefront of national consciousness right now.
Revelations of the 20-year medical negligence compensation bill hitting billions of pounds, figured pretty strongly early in the month.
Better news came in the form of the National Health Service's "annual health check", which showed that the number of NHS Trusts receiving an "excellent" rank had multiplied fourfold from 4% to 16%.
Overall, the report indicated very positive trends in the NHS, fewer trusts were categorised as being "weak", A&E services are quicker in dealing with patients, ambulance services are showing better response times and patients with cancer experienced a cut in waiting times.
However, it seems the NHS has difficulty in attracting a period of sustained positive coverage.
One week prior to the release of the health check, a healthcare commission report into an outbreak of hospital superbug, Clostridium difficile, at an NHS Trust in Maidstone and Kent.
The report revealed that in the three hospitals run by the trust, in little more than a two-year period, 1,176 patients were infected with the superbug.
345 patients died following infection, with 90 of these deaths believed to have been directly attributable to the bug.
An investigation into the Trust found that some of the culture and operating practices in its hospitals had a high level of causal association with incidents of medical negligence.
Failure of staff to wash hands, shifting infected patients across wards and failing to be attentive to potentially infectious diarrhoea were all cited as factors behind the outbreak.
Leader of the Conservatives, David Cameron, was unequivocal in his belief of the cause of the outbreak: "top-down targets".
Superbugs will not seem to go away at the moment, Clostridium difficile is very difficult to treat and is shaping to be no exception. Treating it with antibiotics actually make the infection worse by killing the healthy bacteria in the stomach which would otherwise help kill it off.
However, against this background, it can sometimes be difficult to remember and appreciate the hard and invaluable work performed every day by doctors and nurses across the country.
This is why around 3,000 NHS staff are expected to take to the streets for the I Love the NHS march and rally, to be held at London's Trafalgar Square.
Official for health with Unison, Karen Jennings, said, "It's a march with a difference it's all about celebrating the NHS. We really value the principles and values of the NHS.
"We want to ensure it is not damaged by the reforms that are under way."
One nursing student summed up the feelings of many participants, saying, "Recent events have meant that the media only ever seem to focus on the negative things in the NHS; there are a lot of positive things being done."
It seems the right balance, while we should never be complacent about overstretched hospitals, clinical negligence, and medical negligence compensation claims, it also pays to remind ourselves of the positive aspects of the NHS, so we can build on them and foster better health services for the future.
