Dr Mary McCarthy: We must carry on to fight for the NHS and let it be Stephen’s legacy

Stephen Hawking was truly an inspiration. His life is also a reminder of the value of our NHS

As well as the indelible mark he made on the world of physics and his journeying the cosmos, Stephen Hawking’s contribution to the NHS will be fondly remembered.

Only a rare few can boast such a list of accomplishments. He published more than one hundred and fifty scientific papers and his first book, A Brief History of Time, sold over 10 million copies and was translated into 40 languages.

Indeed, he is responsible for enlarging our understanding of the universe. What makes this achievement all the more remarkable is that he was profoundly disabled.

He was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in his early twenties and was predicted then to have a life expectancy of two years.

ALS is a variant of Motor Neurone Disease, a degenerative condition of neurones that affects the nerve supply to muscles. It is characterised by muscle weakness initially and in later stages the muscle begins to waste entirely.

It affects all muscles so not only is there difficulty standing, reducing patients to a wheelchair existence, but there is wasting of the muscles that produce speech and those that expand the lungs.

Articulate

About 10 per cent of patients will show some signs of dementia and nearly all will have some impairment of thinking or decision making.

Although Professor Hawking grew manifestly weaker over the course of his life, requiring a computer assisted voice to help him articulate his thoughts, his mind remained as sharp and clear at the end of his life as it was in the beginning, with evidence of new work emerging in his final days.

Despite the ravages of the disease, he married a college friend and had three healthy children who brought great joy into his life and have provided him with grandchildren.

His enthusiasm for life and for his continuing research was inspiring and he said himself, that having already received a death sentence he had the urge to accomplish as much as possible in the short time left to him.

The fact he lived past his 76th birthday has mystified his doctors. There are no records of anyone one else living so long with this disease.

The disease is however known to be variable and although life expectancy is considered to be short, many patients live into their 40s, 50s and 60s.

Hawking once said that he would not be here today if it were not for the NHS. He attributed them for saving his life on a number of occasions.

It is no surprise then that he recently was involved in the launch of a judicial review against Jeremy Hunt for what he regarding as the increasing “backdoor privatisation” of the NHS.

He joined an ongoing campaign for High Court judges to grant a judicial review to stop the Government and NHS England bringing in accountable care organisation without scrutiny by Parliament.

In such cases as motor neurone disease or for those living with a severe disability in this country, the NHS is a lifeline, one which they simply cannot do without.

His legacy should be a reminder of the importance of our health service and how it enables people to achieve great things. Stephen Hawking may no longer be able to join in the fight but we certainly can and must carry on.

* Dr Mary McCarthy has worked at Belvidere Surgery in Shrewsbury for more than 20 years. She is chairman of the local medical committee and represents Shropshire, North Staffordshire and South Staffordshire on the General Practitioners Committee of the BMA.