As the weekend battle raged between the two wings of the Tory party over Brexit Yes or No, the NHS was never far from the front line as the weapon of choice for both sides, who have now lost the entire plot of what this referendum ought to be about, and instead are in a fight to the end, regardless of the damage they do to each other, to their country, to their party and to their cause, whichever one it is.
That does not alter the fact that the NHS has major and growing problems. The money is too thinly spread and unable to deal with all the priorities at once, so things like mental healthcare fall by the wayside. The reason for the difficulties is the lack of proper funding. It is impossible to provide an infinite service, in other words one that has to deal with whatever arrives at its door, on a finite budget, or one which does not expand as demand expands. Add to that it is not realistic to provide the complete package of a modern and timely healthcare system on less than 10% of GDP. At the moment the NHS has to get by on about 7%. If that rose to the required level it would inject an additional £60 billion a year. This is a vast sum compared to the trivial promises being scattered across the political conversation. It is time to discuss how to raise it.