The talk by writer Roy Lilley was light relief for the conference but behind the laughter was a genuine message on how to get the best from the NHS. In a style reminiscent of stand-up comedy and wielding crutches for a bad leg, he told jokes, harangued the audience and bullied them into waving shoes in the air and singing Happy Birthday.
Perception is everything, he said. A Consumer Council survey had shown that a majority of people felt they had not had a satisfactory response to complaints about GPs and hospitals. But the NHS believe they have the best complaints procedure they have ever had, he said.
He urged NKF members to get involved with local Primary Care Groups and Health Improvement Programmes, since kidney patients needed to work together with other people in the public service. The average consumer was most interested in heart and stroke disease and cancer conditions mainly caused by lifestyle. The same with drug abuse, stress, diet, HIV/aids and teenage pregnancies. They would much rather spend money on fixing up people who are sick than on persuading people that its more fun to be fit, he said.
He enlarged on Lilley's Lesson in Lobbying, and the ten most powerful two-letter words in the English language: If it is to be, it is up to me.
He held up the Terrence Higgins Trust (a HIV/AIDS charity) as an example of how one group had changed people's perceptions, and summed up his message as: Be clear what you want to achieve, work as a team and HAVE FUN.