29-06-2025
It really shouldn't be radical to expect the NHS to put patients first
SIR – Sir Jim Mackey, the new NHS boss (The Saturday Interview, June 28), states that the service is deaf to criticism, has wasted a lot of money and sees patients as an inconvenience.
The general public has known all this for far too long. One truly hopes that Sir Jim's insight will bring about some real changes, and that he will have the strength to see them through.
Peter Rosie
Ringwood, Hampshire
SIR – Sir Jim Mackey says 'it feels like we've built mechanisms to keep the public away because it's an inconvenience'.
I do find that, when I am able to see a doctor, I tend to start the conversation with the words: 'I am sorry to bother you, but …'
If I were receiving any other service for which I was paying (as we do for the NHS through our taxes), it would never occur to me to say that.
Felicity Guille
London SW6
SIR – Sir Jim Mackey acknowledges the failure of the NHS and hopes that this bureaucratic Titanic might avoid its fatal iceberg. He identifies the walls erected by the NHS to obstruct access – not least the high one in front of primary care, which is the point of first contact for patients who choose not to abuse A&E departments.
Large general practices, often the result of mergers, should create a daily, open-access morning clinic for patients who perceive their problem to be urgent; after receiving a ticket, they would be seen in order. Each GP would take turns to run the clinic. The early weeks would overwhelm, but demand would start to settle down. Some patients, after waiting for several hours, would realise their problem was not urgent, and opt for an arranged appointment.
Remote consultations can never compete with the doctor-patient chemistry in the consultation room.
Dr Adrian Crisp
Weston Colville, Cambridgeshire
SIR – Your Leading Article (' Reform the NHS, not our shopping baskets ', June 29) discusses Labour's plan to introduce yet more heavy-handed measures. Forcing shops to promote fruit and vegetables will not address the causes of obesity. Better education, for instance, could genuinely help to combat it, but piling more regulations on to shops will only push prices higher – something no one wants.
Charlie Temple
Billericay, Essex
SIR – The plan for cutting the calorie content of the average shopping basket is a step in the right direction, but does not go far enough. I suggest recruiting food police to stand at checkouts and fine us £5 for each non-government-approved item in our trolleys – reduced to £2.50 if we return the item to the shelves. Fines for bottles or cans of alcoholic drinks would, naturally, be much higher.
Max Sawyer
Stamford, Lincolnshire
