What the NHS needs
Sir: James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson are right (‘The great Tory health splurge,’ 26 May): an extra 3 per cent will not solve the Tories’ political problem. Labour will still trumpet NHS deficiencies, waste will continue and the NHS will demand ever more resources.
Only structural change will solve the problems inherent in our state healthcare monopoly. First, we need to set sustainable limits on what the NHS should provide, learning from other countries how to restrain demand responsibly. Second, we need to look beyond how adult social care is funded, to how it should fit with the NHS. Third, we must slash the top-heavy bureaucracy and split NHS England into manageable units (the size of NHS Scotland, say). Without such radical action, another £350 million will only buy Theresa May more heartache.
Tim Ambler
Senior Fellow, Adam Smith Institute
London SW1
The price of justice
Sir: As a criminal barrister, I was interested to read that ‘The Brexit bus pledge has turned the Conservatives into big spenders’ (26 May).
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