Letters: This Conservative Government stands idly by while the health care system in Britain collapses

SIR – On Sunday my father-in-law, aged 92 and struggling with a number of health issues, had need of advice and help. GP surgeries were shut for days over the holiday period and, even if open, they struggled to provide care responsively. So he rang 111 twice, only to receive an automated message stating that, due to demand, nobody was able to receive his call.

There is no help to be had from anywhere. We are witnessing a complete collapse of health care in an affluent Western society. Yet there is no coherent response from our elected leaders, either acknowledging the situation or suggesting solutions, other than repeatedly stating how much money is being spent on the NHS.

Christopher Swinburn FRCP
Taunton, Somerset

SIR – I am a retired GP and wonder how this Government can persuade GPs to work in a manner that benefits the patient rather than the doctor.

Dr Gregory Tanner (Letters, January 2) highlights lack of primary care as a major problem in this present crisis. There is no longer a filter in the community to prevent hospitals and ambulance staff being overwhelmed. Twenty-five years ago that filter was the GP, who was the first port of call for out-of-hours medical care. It is now clear just how catastrophic was Labour’s decision to allow GPs to give up the 24-hour commitment

I wonder whether the GP in its present form is an expensive luxury we can no longer afford. Three trained nurses would be much better value, and with backup from a specialist practitioner we might get some out-of-hours care for the same money as one part-time GP.

Having recently experienced inpatient treatment and an emergency operation, I feel that the problem is not in the hospital – which worked perfectly – but in the community.

Richard Stephenson
Aynho, Northamptonshire

SIR – James Le Fanu’s article (Features, January 2) on the report on the NHS by the Institute for Fiscal Studies fails to make more than a passing comment on the fact that, to quote the report itself, “the increase in GP appointments is particularly striking, as the number of GPs has fallen while the number of hospital staff has increased”.

Isn’t it time to acknowledge the hard work being done in primary care?

Dr Mark Williams
Wareham, Dorset

SIR – A perfect example of top-heavy non-clinical staffing in the NHS is the noticeboard displayed in the entrance foyer of most trusts. 

Many (including my former workplace, King’s College Hospital) show a large array of head shots of the extensive administrative staff, but not a single senior clinician. 

I have long thought this gives a poor (though accurate) impression to the public of the relative importance accorded by the trust to its workforce.

Irving Benjamin
Emeritus Professor of Surgery, King’s College Hospital
London SE5

SIR – Denis Wilkins (Letters, January 3) refers to the decline in NHS productivity from risk of litigation.

The NHS cannot be trusted to investigate itself. Litigation provides independent, rigorous, judicially regulated clinical scrutiny according to accepted medical norms. Access to justice is free at the point of need and available to all.

Dr Anthony Barton
Medical negligence solicitor
London N1

SIR – I was recently in rural Kenya when I suffered severe chest pains. 

I went to the local cottage hospital at 10am without an appointment. After waiting an hour, I saw the GP. He sent me for a blood test and CT scan. The results of the latter were emailed to a specialist in Nairobi and returned by 3.30pm. By 4pm the GP gave me the all clear – it was just a minor chest infection. 

The whole experience cost me the equivalent of £78.

Willy Watson
Hungerford, Berkshire

UK defence strategy

SIR – General Lord Dannatt (Comment, December 27) is right when he says: “If our country is to play its full part within Nato’s forward deterrence, then an increase in the size and capability of our land forces must be funded.” So too is Rear Admiral Philip Mathias (Letters, December 28) in insisting that Britain maintains a credible nuclear deterrent.

But both are wrong if they encourage the perception to take hold that deterrence on land, using conventional Armed Forces, can be a sufficient rival to nuclear deterrence at sea, using ballistic missile submarines. Strategic deterrence requires both to be fully funded and operational.

As I argued in “Rediscovering Deterrence: The UK Strategy of Continuous At-Sea Deterrence”, an essay published by Cityforum in October: “It makes no sense for all of deterrence to be considered exclusively nuclear and submersible. Deterrence should also be conventional and visible – hence the argument for continuous at-sea deterrence to be complemented by continuous on-land deterrence.”

Equally, it makes no sense for deterrence to be considered an exclusively military concern or specialism. It is much more than that. Strategic deterrence is a national posture in which diplomatic, intelligence and economic means are just as significant as the Armed Forces, and often much more so.

Paul Cornish
Visiting professor, London School of Economics

Strike sucker punch

SIR – My house was broken into on December 5. The thieves took my car keys and stole my car. They were caught driving it with false number plates, and I was informed of this on December 8. The police were delighted as they arrested five criminals and broke a car-stealing ring.

I later received a letter dated December 15 saying that my car was in a police pound over two hours’ drive away, costing £140 plus £30 per day of storage. Thanks, I presume, to the postal workers’ strike, this arrived on December 28, meaning I had to pay £590 to recover my car. Additional costs included new number plates, and my girlfriend and I wasted a day getting to Kettering and back by car. This would have been much easier if the rail workers hadn’t been on strike.

I now feel as if I have been robbed twice, and I still have to sort out the damage to the house.

Adam Parker
London SW14

Giving in cash

SIR – Amid the concern about churches not taking cash donations (Letters, January 3), may I pay tribute to the silent majority who support the church through regular online donations?

As giving coordinator for our church, I can tell you that this group stuck with us during Covid when we were not even allowed in church, have signed up to inflation-linked giving, and willingly adopted our cashless donation station. They respond generously to special calls, such as to support Afghan and Ukrainian refugees. They are matched by those who give their time and indeed open their homes to these refugees.

We gladly take cash if people want to give it. Of course, cash condemns me to a visit to the bank, but I view that as a helpful reminder of the purgatory that awaits those of us who sin.

Philip Wedmore
London SE24

Clarkson’s hyperbole

SIR – Jeremy Clarkson (Letters, December 23) was a student when I was a journalism lecturer in Sheffield and he worked on the Rotherham Advertiser.

He was vaguely offensive to us later, claiming that we must have been teaching by telepathy because all he could recall was eating pancakes at the nearby pub. We smiled, because we already recognised the trademark style that has since brought him enormous success – over-the-top hyperbole that amuses his readers and relieves him of the need to be accurate.

About today’s farmers, he writes that most hold their trousers up with twine and burn their children at night to keep warm; in praise of pigs, he writes that they have long eyelashes like Twiggy and can speak 40 languages; writing about harvest time, he says he plans to shove a child on to the forks of his JCB harvester and balance him high in the air to pick fruit.

Then comes the explosive Meghan Markle stuff. It was certainly a bit crass. But to be offended by it is to misunderstand Mr Clarkson. He’s not a misogynist, he’s a hyperbolist.

Gerry Kreibich
Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

Cutting up cards

SIR – Now is the time to cut your Christmas cards in half and use them for shopping lists.

Veronica Rickards
Ripon, North Yorkshire

Remembering romantic drives in classic cars

SIR – Rowan Pelling’s article (“Driving has lost its romance in this bleak age of fuel efficiency”, Comment, December 30) struck a chord with me.

I passed my driving test at 17 in our family Ford 10 Prefect, and at 21 bought my own first car, a bright red 1947 MG TC. That summer I drove my then girlfriend (now wife of 58 years) to sleepy Newquay in Cornwall, driving overnight from Stockport for 12 hours.

I later swapped it for a Morgan Plus 4 modified with a Triumph TR2 manifold and twin SU carburettors to transform its performance. It was a joy to drive, and took us on honeymoon to the Wye Valley in 1964. Sadly, it had to go when the development of our first baby meant my wife could no longer access the car. Bigger saloons beckoned.

Now I couldn’t get into a Moggy, even if I had the money, but I have done the factory tour.

Ken Hope
Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire

Kiwi polish and maintaining high standards

SIR – Just days into the new year and it is already ruined by the news that Kiwi shoe polish is being withdrawn from the British market (Letters, January 3).

During my service in the Royal Navy, and in the 40 years since, I have used nothing but Kiwi – it is simply the best. Cherry Blossom may see a chance to increase its market share, but it is inferior and I shall not be buying it.

Instead I will buy Kiwi online from Europe, regardless of the cost. I have no doubt that my fellow veterans from all branches of the British Armed Forces will do the same. Maintaining high standards is important to us.

Dr Alf Crossman
Rudgwick, West Sussex

SIR – When I joined the ambulance service in 1994, the training centre classrooms all had a full-length mirror bearing a notice stating: “This is how the public see you.” We were encouraged to take pride in our appearance, including polished shoes. It was proof of attention to detail and professional self-discipline.

When the Army was helping out during the pandemic, one of the young soldiers commented: “I like your boots, Tim.” Surely this is the greatest compliment to well-polished footwear.

Tim Bradbury
Northwich, Cheshire

SIR – When I joined the Army the most important thing in life, above all else, was “bulling” your boots.

Arguments raged over the best polish. Kiwi or Wren’s? I favoured Kiwi. I was very proud of my boots, and cared for them like a baby.

Liddle Stokoe
Ashtead, Surrey

SIR – Readers who are concerned about the disappearance of Kiwi shoe polish could find a most satisfactory replacement from Timpson, whose excellent Premium Renovating Shoe Polish is made in England.

Jane Moth
Stone, Staffordshire

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