Readers' Letters: NHS has never been anything but 'grossly underfunded'

Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, campaigned for the UK to have a National Health Service (Picture: Edward G Malindine/Getty Images)Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, campaigned for the UK to have a National Health Service (Picture: Edward G Malindine/Getty Images)
Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, campaigned for the UK to have a National Health Service (Picture: Edward G Malindine/Getty Images)
NHS needs a top to bottom revamp, says reader

The concept of a national healthcare system for Britain, to be “free to all” at the point of delivery, was introduced to Parliament in 1945. Three years later, despite protests from all parties, it was forced through and became what we now call the NHS. It was bulldozed into existence by Aneurin Bevan, a Labour stalwart, after he “stuffed with gold” the mouths of resisting private doctors, all afraid of the impact upon their livelihood… “private” being the way at the time.

Within a year, Prime Minister Clement Attlee had to ask the populace to temper their use of the service because nobody had planned for such a rush (initially for spectacles and dentures). There were no new purpose-built hospitals, even five years later. This was a period of extreme austerity as never witnessed since.

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In my lifetime there has never been an election in which the NHS has not featured in opposition claims as “grossly underfunded”.

The NHS set off with little idea where it was going, never got where it aimed to be… and now has no idea how to change course to get there. It's now indisputable that this “free” journey has cost the population an absolute fortune.

Had it been managed properly from Day One, set up to follow clear business standards, rather than as a “trophy” concept left in the hands of inexperienced managers, we may have been able to afford it today. It’s a wonderful concept, don’t get me wrong, with some excellent and dedicated people, but it has all the trademarks of misguided and poor execution, underperformance and wasteful expenditure, and has grown, uncontrollably, to become the largest single employer in Europe.

Surely now is the time for some form of change – of the magnitude of Perestroika – a complete reversal of outdated ideas. We need fresh thinking from business-minded people, including a marriage instead of a long-term courtship with the private sector. We need new thinking, out with the old, in with the new, swallowing the bitter and wrongly prescribed pill of Socialism, so that we could be certain that our children and grandchildren will not fight every general election over a “grossly underfunded” NHS.

Gordon Y Watson, Edinburgh

Time to gamble?

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With support from the Tories, SNP and Greens at Holyrood, it looks like holding both a Westminster and Holyrood seat will shortly be banned. So what does that mean for the political aspirations of Stephen Flynn, leader of the much diminished SNP at Westminster, who wants to be an MSP and seemingly has ambitions to be SNP party leader and, heaven forbid, first minister?

Will he risk standing down as an MP and his party losing a by-election in a marginal seat for the sake of his personal ambition? He might get elected into Holyrood in 2026 on the list even if he's rejected by the electorate for a constituency seat – or he may well not.

Up for a roll of the dice, Stephen, eh?

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Roxburghshire

Poll position

I fear that Brian Barbour (Letters, 10 December) has fallen into an error in equating people's opinions of the SNP administration with the desire for Independence. I would disagree with him that the “only opinion poll that counts is an election”, and would say that a referendum is the only way to obtain a clear picture of the desire for Independence: an election is more an expression of content or discontent with a political administration.

An issue is that the SNP is the only credible party fighting for independence, which makes it all too easy for opinions about it to become entangled with opinions about Independence. When Scotland finally gets its Independence there will be some people who have merely (sometimes through clenched teeth) “lent” the SNP their vote who will switch away, and also some who will switch to it (or its successor). After independence there will be a redrawing of political affiliations as people and parties determine how best to walk boldly into the future—and who knows what parties will eventually come to be. There may be a strong SNP or it may wither and be replaced by other parties.

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Will an independent Scotland have a centre-right, centre-left or a coalition of parties forming a government? I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that we should be allowed to find out by means of a referendum and, if the majority will it as I trust they will, Independence.

Steven Fisher, Inverlael, Highland

Sigh of relief

Monica Lennon’s proposed Ecocide Prevention Bill (your report, 11 December) has the backing of enough cross-party members to be brought forward and the Scottish Government has indicated that it will not intervene to stop it. This would clear the way for the bill to be formally introduced in the Scottish Parliament next year.

Ecocide ​refers to mass damage and destruction of ecosystems – severe harm to nature which is widespread or long-term. What could be more damaging than wind farms? From toxic mining processes to the digging up of peatland which is then filled with massive concrete foundations, deforestation, killing and displacement of wildlife and the Scottish Government’s own rejection of any ban on wind turbine blade graveyards once old turbines are decommissioned, despite the fact many other countries have already banned these giant fibreglass and plastic blades from landfill sites. The people whose lives have been ruined by the impact from noise and blinking aviation safeguarding lights, amongst many other things, will also tell you that wind turbines are a crime against humanity.

It will be interesting to see how the relevant provisions are drafted. If it does what it says on the tin then rural communities can heave a sigh of relief as it will sound the death knell for many renewable energy developments, particularly wind farms.

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Aileen Jackson, Scotland Against Spin, Uplawmoor, East Renfrewshire

War footing

Your correspondent Doug Morrison chastises Rachel Reeves for stating she could not increase defence spending without making cuts elsewhere, and also mentions a shortage of troops (Letters, 9 December). If successive governments had not deludedly sought to style themselves as a major power wielding influence on the UN Security Council via the possession of a faux “deterrent” Britain could have had one of the finest surface fleets in the world and well-equipped, numerous troops. The Trident submarines on which we have wasted billions are a poor substitute for genuine defence. Their replacement, Dreadnought, is over budget and overdue, making the furore over the ferries here pale in comparison.

Our defence needs now are entirely different to those faced previously, in particular due to climate change and other factors, such as drone warfare, which we did not face during the Cold War. But our politicians seem to think we are still fighting the last war and if you want to crunch numbers you might first look at the MoD staff to service personnel ratio – there are roughly 62,000 civil servants and 1500,00 troops, thus slightly more than one administrator/desk job for every three sets of boots on the ground. It might be interesting to do a similar comparison between managerial/administrative personnel vs actual clinicians in the NHS!

Marjorie Ellis Thompson, Edinburgh

Horse sense

Rufio and his friends will keep heading for the hills until we take a “rein check” on racing (“Escaped horse gallops up high street in Scottish town after breaking through fence”, 10 December).

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Forcing gentle, sensitive animals to compete in dangerous races where they’re pushed beyond their natural abilities and constantly whipped to run faster is a disaster waiting to happen. Many horses collapse, crash through railings, sustain broken legs and necks, and endure what the industry euphemistically calls “breakdown”. Others face heart attacks, bleeding in their lungs, painful ulcers and other health problems that come only from being forced to run to their breaking point.

No animal consents to risking life and limb to line trainers’ pockets. Let’s show horses kindness by putting racing out to pasture and leave running to willing, human participants.

Yvonne Taylor, PETA Foundation, London

Hope for Syria

According to some reports, events are moving at a “dizzying pace” in the turmoil that is Syria at the moment, and not entirely in the right direction. Worryingly, Israel, Turkey and the USA have been bombing strategic targets in the country “to protect their interests”. The danger in this is that it will play into the extremist hands of the likes of ISIS, just one of multiple groups vying for control.

Meanwhile HTS, which has cut off all ties with al-Qaeda, has, promisingly, offered an amnesty to those, many of them under duress, who fought on the government's side in the recent civil war.

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The leadership of the HTS, in these early stages, is already showing some much needed vision in a highly volatile situation, for which they should be supported. It wouldn't be the first time those deemed to be terrorists turned out to prevail as freedom fighters. Just think Mau Mau in Kenya and the ANC in South Africa. Where is a Nelson Mandela when we all need him?

Ian Petrie, Edinburgh

French lessons

I wonder if the Scottish Government has considered inviting the amazing French artisans, who have completely renovated Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in only five years, to come over and do a shift at Ferguson Marine? Just a thought.

Jim Houston

Edinburgh

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