Doctor blasts NHS problems in letter to health chiefs

Like many doctors, Tim Winch is accustomed to dealing with the unexpected and the occasional emergency. So when an elderly patient recently came to the surgery and collapsed with septic shock, an ambulance was called.

He says it took nine minutes – not to arrive – but for the 999 call to be answered.

Fortunately the patient recovered but on another occasion, the outcome may have been different.

Dr Winch, senior partner at Headcorn Surgery, highlighted the alarming incident in his letter, saying the CCG’s commitment to “timely appointments” was a case of “whistling for the moon.”

However, the incident was not the catalyst for his lacerating response and said his views had been brewing for a long time.

“I have actually been rehearsing that letter for several months. Yes, it is strongly worded but queues in casualty and people dying in corridors and the collapse of a massive private sector firm [Carillion] had given me some justification.

“This isn’t just the foment of a frustrated old man. This is absolutely real.”

He takes aim at a variety of targets. On plans for health and social care to come together, he writes: “Which social care professionals? Are they the ones to be paid for by KCC whose funds….are massively inadequate for the job ahead?”

On the claim of “quality hospital care” he responds by saying: “Ha, ha, ha.”

His letter is particularly caustic on the issue of the current reorganisation of the NHS in the guise of “strategic transformational partnerships” – five-year plans – which many see as cover for cuts.

CCGs plan and buy healthcare in their areas. On the West Kent group’s commitment to forge “joined-up services” he writes: “Are these the sort that have decimated local district nursing