Readers' letters

The BMA has been urging this Government to be honest about NHS funding for some time and our calls are now being echoed by experts and interested parties from all sides of the political landscape now.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor need to explain how exactly the NHS will keep up with rising demand without the necessary investment. Theresa May talks about injecting £10bn into the NHS, yet in reality the increase in health spending is less than half of that.

The NHS is already the most efficient health care system in the world. The notion that the funding crisis can be solved with further efficiency savings is a myth, and these are not savings, they are year-on-year cuts that have driven almost every acute trust in England into deficit, led to a crisis in general practice and a community and social care system on the brink of collapse. The NHS needs urgent action to put it on sustainable financial footing. Failure to invest now will result in a disaster in the future, both financially and in terms of patient health and care.

Dr Mark Porter

British Medical Association 


public services

Financial black hole

With all the money spent on the NHS, we should be the healthiest and fittest country in Europe. I get the impression this is not the case.

We have to face the unpalatable truth. The NHS is a financial black hole on one hand, but a vote-generating gold mine on the other, hence the intractable problem.

Perhaps the NHS should reinvent, and start charging for treatment required for self-inflicted conditions such as obesity, smoking, excess drinking / drug taking, fighting. Better to spend the EU money on re-inventing a British industrial base, with as many sweetheart deals as needed, so the country has some wealth to spend in the first place.

Dick Spreadbury,

Address supplied

american politics

Why is Trump so popular?

In Britain, we wonder how on earth Donald Trump can still be in the running for the US Presidency. Yet the populism which has driven his campaign is part of the same anti-establishment force which saw a victory for Leave in our EU referendum. And Hillary Clinton hasn’t helped with her words against the coal industry which remains a source of employment for many blue collar workers.

Tim Mickleburgh

via email

gender

World where women lead

It is often claimed that there

is a ‘glass ceiling’ for women in the business and political worlds. Consider then the possibility of Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel and Theresa May all being in power together. That’s the West sorted, now for inroads into Russia, China, and so on, for a clean sweep. Maybe we should just look for the right person at the right time regardless of gender? If that time is now, then so be it – go for it girls!

David H Rhodes,

Address supplied


remembrance

Day for fallen

Why hold a football match on Remembrance Day anyway?

It should be a time to remember our fallen not a day for tawdry sporting fixtures!

John Eoin Douglas via email