Non-Covid patients

SIR – A friend of mine was diagnosed at the screening clinic with breast cancer.

She has been waiting more than four weeks for a consultation with a specialist. When she phoned to ask when she would be given an appointment, she was asked whether she was aware that there was a pandemic.

How many patients with potentially curable diseases are being sacrificed so that all NHS treatment can be devoted to Covid-19?

Richard G Faber FRCS Shefford Woodlands, Berkshire

SIR – We salute the brave NHS doctors, nurses and ancillary workers; and yet, when we clap for the NHS, we dismiss from our minds the fact that these people are paid, on average, one sixth of the salaries earned by their managers, who have not been nearly as effective at doing their jobs during the Covid-19 crisis.

When this is all over, we should stop clapping and instead demand a complete review of the salary structure of the NHS. The review must be entirely independent: no NHS bureaucrat should be allowed anywhere near it.

Boris Johnson is in a unique position to lead this initiative, given that he owes his life to NHS doctors and nurses – and not their managers.

Professor R G Faulkner Loughborough, Leicestershire