My father is dead because of his GP. As are several other people from the same village. When my father was dying, they had a sort of hearing at my parents' home where they decided to accept an apology. It wasn't a simple misdiagnosis or an honest mistake. He didn't examine my father and wouldn't do the standard screening indicated for his symptoms for over ten years, even though he was asked to, and my father was in increasing pain. He took him off medication he needed to be on even though he was specifically told not to by a specialist. I can't put much more, but believe me there was even more to it that makes it a hell of a lot worse. My father died miserable and in pain, and my mother is still struggling with the aftermath.
(To give you some idea, a good friend of my mother's kept going to this same GP about her inability to swallow food, and he told her to take antacids and stop being so neurotic. One day he was off, and she saw the locum- and was rushed to hospital, where they found an inoperable tumour in her throat. She never got home.)
Anyway, he is still practising, and my poor mum still hears gossip about his f*ck-ups.
My aunt died as a result of falling out of bed in hospital after a hip op- she couldn't wait any longer for the loo. No-one documented it as they didn't want to get in any trouble. She went home with a broken hip, was in agony trying to do physio etc, and then was re-admitted... and got MRSA and died.
My mum nearly died after a medical error in her care when she was carrying my twin sisters. She was in a coma for two days. The twins both died. It messed her up for many years.
However, my partner is alive because of the NHS, my sister too- and my daughter and I wouldn't have made it through her birth without them. I love the NHS,and I hope we can preserve it.