As a non-Brit, my feelings exactly. Britain has much - and I mean much - to be very proud of, (little of which was highlighted in Doyle's [to me, sometimes a bit tedious] offering) but I wouldn't rate the NHS as anywhere near the top of that list. Certainly not high enough to occupy main stage for such a long time in an event such as the Olympics opening. As an auslander, it seemed a very, very political statement aimed squarely at the USA and to support Barak Obama in his current fight with the Republicans over that very issue.
This show had been in the planning and preparation for seven years. During that time Obama became POTUS. While preparing the ceremony somebody thought,
Ah... at the time of the opening ceremony Obama will be campaigning for a second term with health reform as a large part of it so let's include the NHS in our ceremony to get him some votes.
Doesn't sound too real to me.
As a non Brit
you may not rate the idea of the NHS as important enough to be included but I suspect you're in a minority.