It's hard watching something you care for deteriorate before your eyes.

It's even harder when something you thought was infallible is simply patched up and pieced back together.

And when it's on life support - well that's the time when you have to make a truly tough decision.

Some of you out there will be reading his and have a horrible feeling in your stomach as you've had to live through this.

I'm sorry if it's brought back some difficult memories.

But it was the only way in which I could start a discussion on a topic which we all care deeply and will dominate the political landscape for the next year - the National Health Service.

When the world's eyes were on the United Kingdom during the 2012 Olympics, this was the achievement that most of us were most proud about - universal health care.

It started off as a dream, a Marxist myth that no one would ever be able to put into practice.

But after coming into force after the Second World War it has become one of the most loved services in the world.

Politicians know this - which is why they always talk about the three little letters with three little words.

A snap-shot of conference season showed all party leaders keen to stand up and say how much they love the NHS and how they will strive to protect it.

But in doing so, they are ignoring the giant elephant in the room: the NHS has not had a clean bill of health for decades.

My dealings with the health service, I am pleased to say, have been largely limited.

But this past year I spent a lot of time in hospital.

And I was shocked to see how little control the doctors seem to have on whole situations.

Nurses were the ones holding wards together and making critical life or death decisions.

Specialists were paged - and when they did attend they appeared to have no idea about individual patients and started giving prescriptions which were totally inadequate.

It was poor, verging on a shambles.

And hardly the type of care that you'd expect or even want.

But therein lies the issue with the National Health Service - it is what it is.

It deals with the most difficult moments in people's lives.

When it goes well, those working there are embraced as heroes.

When it doesn't go well, they are blamed as the human instinct to reach for a scapegoat kicks in.

When you have something like the NHS everyone expects miracles to be worked for free.

On some occasions they are; but on the most part, they are not.

The only way to solve it is to limit expectations.

Only this week health chiefs mapped out their five year plan for the future of the service.

The aim was to look at ways in which a £30 billion shortfall could be met.

But even with changes such as GP practices offering hospital services, there would still be a gap of £8 billion a year.

That is where the line must be drawn.

Something like the NHS can never have enough money; there will always be something more that could be paid for.

With an ever-growing population we cannot keep on pumping more and more money into the health service.

Otherwise those who are left and of working age will be spending more than half of their salaries simply propping it up - far from a sound diagnosis.

It would take a brave politician to cut the amount the service receives.

But if the country is to retain a clean bill of health and ensure that life goes on it's something that's worth considering.