True state of our health service

Sir,– Here is one example of the state of the National Health Service at the moment.

My wife telephoned her local medical practice to seek a doctor’s appointment only to be told there were no available ones this month.

She was then offered an appointment with the practitioner nurse, but that that would be in two weeks’ time.

At the same time on the news I hear Nicola Sturgeon defend the SNP’s appalling record with the usual coined phrases and platitudes such as a growing elderly population, heavier demands on services, even introducing the fact that, for good measure, they were meeting their target with hospital emergencies, yet carefully avoiding the fact seven out of their set targets were being regularly missed.

However when pressed, she justified this with the fact the targets apparently had been set higher than they might.

Had they had their eye on the ball and not blinkered with the concept of independence they might have come to the conclusion of a continuing breakdown in service delivery years ago, and put appropriate planning and funding in to counteract this.

No excuses or explanations can ameliorate the fact the NHS has been seriously underfunded.

However there has been no parallel shortage in funding the independence campaign over the same period leading to this too little too late situation we are now all facing. David L Thomson. 24 Laurence Park, Kinglassie.