A woman's powerful account of her personal experience of the NHS has been shared by thousands in the run up to the general election.

In Ms Hodgson's Facebook post, which has been shared more than 34 thousand times, she said she felt “compelled” to share her mother’s experience of the NHS during three years of treatment for breast cancer after she “watched May lie about the state of our NHS”.

Ms May faced a tough grilling on her over NHS “efficiences", yet pledged to spend half a trillion pounds on the NHS in future.

A midwife from Devon retorted: “I see a lot of efficiency savings that are actually cuts. I see hospitals closing. I see staff that are at their wits end because they cannot give the care they want to give.”

Echoing what is fast becoming a common refrain since both parties began to campaign, Ms Hodgson’s post explains: “I was not necessarily the biggest Corbyn fan...”

​She urged voters to “come down here and spend time on these wards,” and consider the importance of the NHS before casting their ballot on 8 June.

“I know people are impassioned about Brexit and nuclear weaponry and anti-terorrism, but none of that means anything if we cannot give our loved ones respect and care [...] What would Manchester have done without the NHS?”

In an interview with The Independent, Ms Hodgson explains that over the past three years, the care in the Royal Berkshire Hospital has been “phenomenal” in dealing with her mother Juliana’s cancer, especially when she contracted pneumonia twice during chemotherapy.

But last week lack of sufficient staff meant Juliana Hodgson was waiting all hours before someone could help her to the toilet.

“She went into heart failure on Thursday, and we didn’t know if we were going to lose her," Ms Hodgson says.

"We had to wait – not because the staff were standing around, or because they didn’t have fantastic bedside manners, or because they didn‘t come and check on us – but because of the hordes of patients there.

“There simply wasn’t enough staff. When I compare the experience of 2014 to 2017, it’s very different. I can see the tiredness on some of these people’s faces.”

Ms H​odgson also criticised Ms May for her stance on immigration.

Many are concerned that the Prime Minister‘s perceived reluctance to guarantee the future of migrant and EU workers, coupled with the so-called ‘hard Brexit’ that she champions, will force disgruntled employees to strike or quit the NHS.

The Institute for Public Policy Research previously said there were around 44,000 EU nationals working in the NHS, without whom “the NHS would collapse”.

Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Show all 6 1 /6 Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves The elderly “We acknowledge that there are pressures on the health service, there are always extra pressures on the NHS in the winter, but we have the added pressures of the ageing population and the growing complex needs of the population,” Theresa May has said. Waits of over 12 hours in A&E among elderly people have more than doubled in two years, according to figures from NHS Digital. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Patients going to A&E instead of seeing their GPs Jeremy Hunt has called for a “honest discussion with the public about the purpose of A&E departments”, saying that around a third of A&E patients were in hospital unnecessarily. Mr Hunt told Radio 4’s Today programme the NHS now had more doctors, nurses and funding than ever, but explained what he called “very serious problems at some hospitals” by suggesting pressures were increasing in part because people are going to A&Es when they should not. He urged patients to visit their GP for non-emergency illnesses, outlined plans to release time for family doctors to support urgent care work, and said the NHS will soon be able to deliver seven-day access to a GP from 8am to 8pm. But doctors struggling amid a GP recruitment crisis said Mr Hunt’s plans were unrealistic and demanded the Government commit to investing in all areas of the overstretched health service. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Simon Stevens, head of NHS England Reports that “key members” of Ms May’s team used internal meetings to accuse Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, of being unenthusiastic and unresponsive have been rejected by Downing Street. Mr Stevens had allegedly rejected claims made by Ms May that the NHS had been given more funding than required. Getty Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Previous health policy, not funding In an interview with Sky News’s Sophy Ridge, Ms May acknowledged the NHS faced pressures but said it was a problem that had been “ducked by government over the years”. She refuted the claim that hospitals were tackling a “humanitarian crisis” and said health funding was at record levels. “We asked the NHS a while back to set out what it needed over the next five years in terms of its plan for the future and the funding that it would need,” said the Prime Minister. “They did that, we gave them that funding, in fact we gave them more funding than they required… Funding is now at record levels for the NHS, more money has been going in.” But doctors accused Ms May of being “in denial” about how the lack of additional funding provided for health and social care were behind a spiralling crisis in NHS hospitals. Getty Images Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves Target to treat all A&E patients within four hours Mr Hunt was accused of watering down the flagship target to treat all A&E patients within four hours. The Health Secretary told MPs the promise – introduced by Tony Blair’s government in 2000 – should only be for “those who actually need it”. Amid jeers in the Commons, Mr Hunt said only four other countries pledged to treat all patients within a similar timeframe and all had “less stringent” rules. But Ms May has now said the Government will stand by the four-hour target for A&E, which says 95 per cent of patients must be dealt with within that time frame. Getty Images Everyone the Government blames for the NHS crisis – except themselves No one Mr Hunt was accused of “hiding” from the public eye following news of the Red Cross’s comments and didn’t make an official statement for two days. He was also filmed refusing to answer questions from journalists who pursued him down the street yesterday to ask whether he planned to scrap the four-hour A&E waiting time target. Sky News reporter Beth Rigby pressed the Health Secretary on his position on the matter, saying “the public will want to know, Mr Hunt”. “Sorry Beth, I’ve answered questions about this already,” replied Mr Hunt. “But you didn’t answer questions on this. You said it was over-interpreted in the House of Commons and you didn’t want to water it down. Is that what you’re saying?” said Ms Rigby. “It’s very difficult, because how are we going to explain to the public what your intention is, when you change your position and then won’t answer the question, Mr Hunt”. But the Health Secretary maintained his silence until he reached his car and got in. Getty

Ms Hodgon describes how, feeling panicked and overwhelmed at the news that her mother might not survive the night, a consultant took her hand and waited with her because he did not want to leave her alone.

She highlights the fact that the doctor was an immigrant, “because I knew people would say that the problems are caused by immigrants using the NHS”.

“But look at everything immigration does for the NHS. That’s something that Corbyn seems to understand," she said.

“The consultant mentioned he was supposed to finish work five hours previously, but he saw I had no one with me so he wanted to make sure I was OK. It was just so human.”

She explains how she had come to her decision to vote Labour, echoing several common points of criticism surrounding Mr Corbyn.

​“I’ve been on the fence about Corbyn, largely based his involvement with unions and his reluctance to campaign for Remain, which put me off as I was quite a staunch Remain voter," she said.

"But over time, I started thinking that when he spoke there was a certain humility that made me warm to him.

“As far as I could see, he did try to answer questions truthfully, even when they weren't necessarily going to be popular answers.”

Compared to Ms May’s “flippant responses to something that’s so close to people’s hearts,” Ms Hodgson says Mr Corbyn “didn’t give these sweeping statements [...] I’m sick of the phrase ‘strong and stable’.”

Ms Hodgson also attacked May’s high-profile comments made during the BBC’s Question Time leaders special, to a nurse concerned with her low pay and the one per cent increase – as compared to the rise in inflation of more than two per cent.

The Prime Minister responded: “There isn’t a magic money tree that we can shake that suddenly provides for everything that people want.”

Ms Hodgson said that while she had received many negative comments about the photo of herself and her mother that she included with the Facebook post, calling it “inappropriate,” she believes it’s important that people face the truth.

“It’s no different to a picture at Easter or Christmas,” she said.