WHILE viewers were either glued to, or desperately trying to avoid, the Tory leadership debates last week, the reality of what might happen under a new leader began to emerge from completely different sources.
An NHS trust in England issued a price list for 71 operations, ranging from more than £18,000 for a hip or knee replacement to just over £2,300 for cataract surgery.
The prices were for private procedures but NHS patients will only get free treatment provided they meet certain criteria. And because the 71 procedures listed are deemed to be of 'low clinical priority', many patients will have to wait in pain before they will be treated.
In the same week, I came across a tweet from a woman living in the Channel Island of Guernsey - a Crown dependency but outside the United Kingdom. The Channel Islands do not have the NHS and a trip to A&E involves a hefty bill.
Helpfully, charges to use the emergency department are painted on the wall of one hospital. Prices range from £55 per visit, provided you fall ill between 8am and 6pm on a weekday, rising to £165 for any visit between 11pm and 8am. A consultation fee can cost up to £340 for critical illness.
A loved one was in hospital for a few days last month. The emotional strain and awkward practicalities of that stay - the twice-daily visits and chats with nurses about what was actually wrong, endlessly washing pyjamas and dressing gowns, buying toiletries and buying them again when they inevitably went missing - were draining enough without the added worry of whether we would have to pay for the treatment.
The nurses and healthcare assistants were excellent. They treated patients with dignity, kindness and respect - like human beings - regardless of their social or financial circumstances.
All human life is in a hospital and there is no way that many of the other patients or other families I encountered would be able to pay for a lengthy stay or major surgery.
If Jeremy Hunt or, and may God have mercy, Boris Johnson, becomes prime minister there is no guarantee that they will protect the NHS as it stands.
Mr Johnson has vowed to cut taxes for higher earners despite deposed Tory leadership hopeful Rory Stewart's warnings that it was "wrong" to slash taxes given the uncertainty around Brexit and the simple fact that the UK can't afford it.
Mr Hunt did call for increased investment in care budgets, which is rich given that when he was health secretary, the NHS saw its slowest period of investment since it was set up.
The coalition government's decision to slash health spending to cut the financial deficit in 2010 came at a time when the NHS was seeing a huge upsurge in demand.
Intense pressures on A&E departments, combined with an ageing population, have put the health service under huge strain. Trusts across the UK have consistently missed waiting time targets, particularly around A&E waiting times.
The always unwelcome intervention of US president Donald Trump showed how fragile the NHS really is.
He insisted the NHS must be "on the table" as part of trade talks, effectively insisting American firms must have access to the health service after Brexit.
Despite his U-turn a day later, the damage had already been done.
What the NHS needs is increased investment and proper facilities to deal with the rise in citizens over the age of 85.
It doesn't need a prime minister (Boris) who wants tax cuts which will cost around £10 billion a year.
It certainly doesn't need one who incorrectly claimed that the NHS could benefit by £350 million a week if the UK left the European Union - and plastered that claim over the side of a bus.
Mr Hunt's track record doesn't inspire huge confidence, including breaching expenses rules, failing to capitalise on creating a legacy from the 2012 London Olympics and embroiling himself in a row with junior doctors over their contracts.
If this unedifying campaign has shown anything it is that both men are prepared to make promises they are unlikely to be able to keep if it helps them achieve their ambitions.
Our health service may simply be collateral damage.
