Rethinking GP care

SIR – When will the complaints about the inaccessibility of GP consultations translate into a recognition that the NHS just does not work? A F Gomes (Letters, April 10) wants prospective parliamentary candidates to guarantee a service that patients can access.

The solution is to privatise general practice. These are already individual partnerships, so there are no legal barriers to acknowledging that they are independent businesses. Let them charge, and live off the income they generate. GPs will then fall over themselves to offer a service in line with their patients’ wishes.

Dr Steven R Hopkins

Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire

SIR – I was very disappointed to learn from last Sunday’s letters that some doctors no longer make home visits.

The doctors at our surgery do so regularly. I know from personal experience that some of these visits are unsolicited, made purely due to the doctor’s concern for their patient’s welfare.

We may have one of the most caring surgeries in the country, but others can follow.

Richard Beaugie

Ashford, Kent

SIR – When I bought my first car, back in the 1960s, my father’s advice was to make sure it hadn’t been owned by a doctor.

“Why not?” I asked. “Because they do an awful lot of stopping and starting on their rounds to see patients, and that’s bad for the car,” he replied.

If only this were true today.

Peter Smales

Salisbury, Wiltshire