NHS must change

On the 70th anniversary of the National Health Service, many commentators claim it deserves our veneration and that the model has been imitated by many nations.

Sadly, this encapsulates the central problems with the NHS: there can be no improvement in a system which is both held in sacred esteem and believed to be the universal model.

Instead, we should be asking ourselves why, if the NHS really is the envy of the world, no other European nation has copied it?

The rest of Europe also guarantees universal healthcare coverage but even ex-soviet bloc nations have decided that they are much better off with a more market-orientated, less centralised healthcare system?

The fact is that having the state guarantee access to something doesn’t mean the public sector must be the provider.

We need access to food but we don’t amalgamate our supermarkets into a single giant company run by Whitehall. Yet when it comes to health we insist that a staterun monolithic monster with a staff of 1.5 million is the only way.

(REV DR) JOHN CAMERON

Howard Place, St Andrews

Whilst the new Health Minister, Jeane Freeman, has a strong background in health with her past Labour loyalties, she must realise she is taking over the most difficult job in the Scottish cabinet as NHS Scotland has many deepseated problems that will not be solved easily.

Perhaps she should get off to a good start by securing increased funding for our health boards as they are all struggling with their restricted budgets and face the reality that we need to spend more on our NHS services.

DENNIS FORBES GRATTAN

Mugiemoss Road, Bucksburn