I have just returned from a visit to Liverpool where my Mum lives. This particular visit was planned around her admission to a local hospital for an elective procedure. She was looked after on a ward with other patients who had been treated for similar operations and the atmosphere was very positive amongst the patients, even though there were times when the care provided could have been a bit better as far as they were all concerned. Despite the occasional failings, most of the people who have attended to my Mum and the other patients worked tirelessly to make their stay and recovery as effective as possible. On one occasion after a visit we left the hospital at the beginning of a staff changeover, and met many of the carers and clinicians coming on duty for the Saturday night and Sunday morning shift as we were leaving the hospital to spend an evening in comfort. The desire to thank all of these people was in my mind and although we did speak to one or two, it felt a bit inadequate in terms of the scale of an organisation that was providing care for over 700 people in Merseyside, let alone the rest of the UK. This desire to extend our appreciation has led to the idea to set up a petition to ask the Government to instigate a 7 day celebration of the NHS that would be heard and understood by the staff in all of the parts of the service. The symbolism of a 7 day celebration seems essential as the service operates for 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. I am waiting for the petition to be cleared through is various stages, but hope it will go live in the next few hours.