Throwing money at the NHS can’t be justified when so much is wasted
SIR – Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it. So it is with the NHS. Have we forgotten Labour’s extra 1 per cent on national insurance which was “invested” in the service – and where that got us?
I am not one of the 63 per cent of Conservatives who back higher taxes in order to hand over yet more billions to the NHS money pit (report, June 16).
Only a few weeks ago the NHS’S most senior doctor informed us that the service needs no more money, and instead should become more efficient and reduce waste. Last November you quoted Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, as saying that the NHS could save £1 billion per year if all trusts bought their supplies at the best prices, and we were recently told that seven hospitals in one city could save £400,000 a year by getting together to buy surgical gloves, as though it was some sort of revolutionary idea.
Other examples of waste on a huge scale include the six million missed hospital appointments per year, prescriptions for gluten-free foods, mobility aids given out free (there is no means testing), and all this in an organisation that offers an eyewateringly generous early retirement scheme to the staff it cannot afford to lose and cannot readily replace.
Matthew Sands
Horncastle, Lincolnshire
SIR – We are told that one of the biggest problems faced by the NHS is bed-blocking, as no care package is in place for those patients fit to be discharged. Surely, then, any extra cash should go to local authorities so they can provide the necessary post-hospital care and free up beds.
Simon Pain
Rock, Cornwall
SIR – There is no way that the Chancellor is going to offer tax relief on private health insurance, as Dr John Behardien proposes (Letters, June 16). He only recently increased the insurance premium tax paid on these policies to 12 per cent.
As premiums increase with age, this is a tax on the responsible elderly who, if they have to give up the cover, will increase the pressure on the NHS.
Graham Linberry
Hartfield, East Sussex
SIR – Ceri Twiston-davies (Letters, June 16) suggests that penalties for those who miss GP appointments would be unworkable.
I have experience of the British and Canadian healthcare systems, which are fundamentally similar: free at the point of delivery.
The other day I had to cancel an appointment with less than 24 hours’ notice. I called an hour before the scheduled time with my payment card in hand, knowing that it would cost me $50. I was told not to worry, as payment would be collected on my next visit. My particular clinic is not alone in doing this. One must assume that the person who wanted to see a doctor will still want to do so after a missed appointment.
Richard Gibson
Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada