NHS wild goose chase

sir – My recent experience of the NHS (Letters, May 7) has left me in despair.

On February 25, after a face-to-face GP appointment, a chest CT scan was requested, but was refused by the hospital. So, on March 14, the GP sent the request to a different hospital.

Last week I contacted the second hospital to check that the request had been received, only to be told that it was “on hold”, as the hospital needed to see my chest X-ray first. I had not been asked to have a chest X-ray. I was promised a follow-up telephone call, but to date I have heard nothing. Now the department is not answering calls.

No wonder patients are presenting with advanced diseases.

Pamela Cox

Lichfield, Staffordshire

sir – The pandemic highlighted the good, bad and ugly aspects of the NHS.

On the front line, clinical, administrative and support staff risked their lives to save those of others. However, strategic and operational leadership and management were found wanting, spending inappropriate sums on equipment.

There has also been a breakdown in the relationship between primary and secondary care, and the contract between patients and clinicians. While the pandemic might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, it has been evident for some time that the 70-year-old NHS has become dysfunctional.

The Government’s mantra during the pandemic was to “protect the NHS”. Most of us sacrificed freedoms to support this cause. Since then, amid a cost-of-living crisis, the Government has raised National Insurance contributions for the same purpose. The NHS has demonstrated that it can neither save itself nor effectively deploy endless injections of money.

With none of the main political parties willing to grasp the nettle, the matter must be taken out of their hands. It is time to establish a Royal Commission into the future provision of healthcare in Britain. As a starting point, it should explore what Britain can afford, what services can be funded within those limits, and how to address the ones that fall outside them. Wg Cdr JSB Schollar (retd) Woodbridge, Suffolk