An NHS doctor’s journey to disillusionment
SIR – I was born a few weeks before the NHS was launched. My mother went into practice as a GP in Birmingham in the early 1950s. In due course I qualified in medicine, and entered general practice in 1976.
I was initially a complete enthusiast for the NHS. I built a new surgery at my practice, and did my best to extend and improve services. After 10 years I felt I had reached the limit of achievement where I was, so embarked on a fresh career in the pharmaceutical industry.
As a pharmaceutical physician I was required to assess medical cases in connection with possible drug side effects reported to my employers from both Britain and other countries, mostly in the EU. Studying these reports, it became clear to me that most other health systems were equal to or better than the NHS.
Seventeen years later I returned to general practice, ultimately retiring in 2009. I have to agree with David Frost (Comment, March 8): much of the time the NHS delivers a cheap and sufficient service, but it is too easy for carelessness to thrive. The customer is not the patient; those who choose and pay for services are politicians, controlling the budgets and proposing “eye-catching initiatives” of the kind beloved by Tony Blair. Many of these folk, however, opt for private treatment for themselves and their families – as do I, when I can afford it.
Chris Rayner
Guildford, Surrey
SIR – On Wednesday I rushed my husband to our hospital in Milton Keynes. He was triaged and dealt with by nursing staff and a doctor, before a consultant decided he needed to go to the Luton and Dunstable hospital to be seen by a specialist. We went by ambulance, were swiftly seen, received treatment and returned home 10 hours later. My admiration for all the staff knows no bounds.
Maggie Down
Paulerspury, Northamptonshire
SIR – Mick Caulkin’s positive experience of the NHS (Letters, March 9), beginning at his GP surgery, is to be celebrated – but the issue is getting through the door in the first place.
Phillip Pennicott
London E18