Ok 🙄
Let's be honest - it's a two-way street.
A) employees turned up and worked hard for the hours they were paid
I am just about the strongest believer in the world of the idea that if you do a job then you should do it well. However, there should be recognition for working hard. In my experience, in a huge number of workplaces, people are actually punished for working hard - if employee A works hard but employee B doesn't work hard, employee A will be given more workload to do. So, you're punished for doing well. People who perform well in a role are denied promotions in order to ensure they stay doing well in a department - that's unfair.
B) employees only took sick leave when they were really unwell
Many employers refuse to accommodate people's lives. People are then left needing to lie about illness to cover other aspects of their lives - like children's nativity plays or taking a dog to the vet. If employers were more open to employees having a life outside of work then it would mean employers get more notice of time off being needed and employees can get the flexibility that's required.
C) employees did not regard the usual ups and downs of life as 'mental health' but reserved that for people with actual mental illness like clinical depression, schizophrenia etc
Everyone has mental health just like everyone has physical health. Your comment is ignorant and ridiculous. If you don't maintain your mental health then you can become mentally ill. Attacking people for looking after their mental health is exceptionally ironic considering your rant goes on to complain that people need to take "a bit of ownership and responsibility for staying well".
D) employees just genuinely cared about doing a good job and tried hard
Most do. See point A.
Also would the NHS thrive if we weren't all so dependent on referrals for minor issues and just took a bit of ownership and responsibility for staying well.
Minor issues become major issues. Almost no one on the NHS is getting any help at the moment - people are dying of heart attacks and being denied emergency care. What planet are you on?
If people stopped blaming social workers for child abuse and looked at the parents.
Both can be to blame. Both are to blame. Do you think we should just eradicate social workers? Again, this point is exceptionally ironic in the light of your rant about people needing to do their jobs well - why do social workers doing their job poorly get a pass?
Surely you can see both sides of the coin on all your points? (Like any rational person).