Making strivers foot the bill for care in later life

SIR – I find Sir Terence English’s suggestion (Letters, April 8) that those who are better off should pay for their own healthcare totally unacceptable.

I worked hard to advance in my career. My final salary was good but not exceptional, and the pension scheme which I paid into from the age of 18 provides me with a modestly comfortable retirement. I also paid income tax and National Insurance for 40 years and, of course, still pay income tax.

I am not sure whether I would fall into the group of people Sir Terence wants to pay for their own healthcare – but, if I did, I should be extremely annoyed to be discriminated against in this way. As it is, I shall have to meet the costs of care in a nursing home should I or my wife ever need such care, subsidising the local authority costs for those with no means. David Hughes

Winchester, Hampshire

SIR – I have recently sustained a back injury, necessitating my taking painkilling tablets.

Many of the stronger painkillers did not suit me, giving unpleasant side effects. Accordingly, my GP prescribed at least six different kinds of tablet until we found a variety that worked. All of these tablets came in packs of 100, of which I took only two or three. To comply with EU rules, the unused ones had to be returned to the pharmacy and destroyed.

Is it beyond the wit of the NHS to provide packs of, say, 20 tablets? The drug companies (many of which are European) are making big profits at the expense of British taxpayers. My pharmacist supported my complaint and said my problem was only the tip of a huge iceberg. In the real world, a commercial company in competition with others would not survive for six months if it had the profligate purchasing policy and administrative incompetence of the NHS. Maureen Calveley

Lytham St Annes, Lancashire