The NHS is no longer ‘the envy of the world’

SIR – Philip Johnston’s article (December 13) headlined “Get rid of GPS” contains a valuable point.

The NHS is desperately in need of a cross-party consensus on the shape of its future funding and the model of delivery. It is notable that many developed countries have statesponsored healthcare systems, yet none have seen fit to copy our model. Perhaps the NHS is no longer “the envy of the world”.

We support Philip Johnston’s call for a Royal Commission to review the options and make recommendations for a model fit for the 21st century. Lord Kerslake, formerly of the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, would be an ideal chairman of such a venture.

Tony Narula FRCS

John Macfie FRCS

Nigel Mercer FRCS

Federation of Surgical Specialties Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

SIR – During a weekend away, my wife developed a rash which a pharmacist diagnosed as suspected shingles. Not wanting to take up time with a non-emergency, my wife declined to attend a local hospital’s walk-in centre, so the pharmacist dispensed some cream and advised her to consult her GP as soon as possible.

On Monday she contacted her GP surgery to be told that the earliest she could be seen was in January (Letters, December 13). Meanwhile we continue to manage the ailment with advice from the internet. Stuart Horrocks

Preston, Lancashire

SIR – An article in the British Medical Journal has blamed Peppa Pig – the children’s television series – for setting unrealistic expectations of GP services (report, December 12).

I have often thought that The Archers on BBC radio gives listeners unrealistic expectations of the police force. Its local bobby, PC Harrison Burns, is always on duty and just a phone call away. Patricia Reid

Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire