YP Letters: Prime Minister shamed by mismanagement of our NHS

OUR unelected Prime Minister should hang her head with shame at the way she is condoning the wrecking of the NHS by her hatchetman Jeremy Hunt. It was significant that he kept his job as Health Secretary, even though a large section of the public detested him because of his mismanagement.

It is a disgrace that one of the richest countries in the world will not provide adequate funding because they (the Tories) are hell bent on running down the NHS to sell off to their cronies in private health care.

The Tories hate the NHS because it’s not their baby and they can’t get used to the fact that a Labour government could create such a wonderful service – run for the people and not for vast profits.

Every time the Tories get into power, the NHS goes into crisis because of cuts. My son has had his spinal operation cancelled three times because of cuts at Leeds General Infirmary. I have for a long time held the belief that the Tories have had a secret agenda regarding the NHS.

From: Paul Muller FRCS, Woodthorpe Gardens, Sandal, Wakefield

I STARTED my career as a surgeon in the NHS in 1956. I have been involved in its progress since its inception in 1948. Medical and surgical treatment has improved more rapidly than in many previous centuries.

Until the inception of the hospital trusts, the NHS was a happy place to work, the morale of doctors, nurses, consultants, secretaries and admin staff very high. This was until someone thought of efficiency savings. Accountants got involved and found that most of the money was spent on running a hospital bed; at present £800/day.

So let’s close some hospital beds and treat patients closer to home. Now about a half of the hospital beds have been closed (there are less hospital beds in the UK than in the 27 other nations in Europe). We have lost the nurses that ran these wards; replaced by the management.

Consultants no longer seem to run a firm system, this reduces the ability of them to teach and train junior doctors. There does not appear to be a designated ward for medical or surgical patients any more. The patients from A&E are put in the next available bed, where they could easily be forgotten about.

General practice must be reordered so that medical centres again look after their patients 24/7. An open door policy is not a bad idea. This could all be organised on a rota basis between several practices.