The NHS and politicians
Sir: The NHS is indeed in need of fundamental reform, but Max Pemberton’s excellent article (‘The wrong cuts’, 14 November) exemplifies why politicians are least well qualified to conduct it. The public loves the NHS and has every reason to distrust political meddling. NHS England should become a public corporation with a five-year charter similar to that applying to the BBC. Of course politicians must decide the total budget and agree the strategic goals, but that is a far cry from deciding the pay and hours of every category of staff. Politicians have no managerial skills and should leave that to the professionals.
Tim Ambler
Cley next the Sea, Norfolk
What the young resent
Sir: I am a pensioner, but in my experience any resentment from the young (‘The war on pensioners’, 14 November) is directed less at our financial situation than at the increasingly difficult position they are put in by the housing market and the actions of successive governments.
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