AFTER 66 years and 18 parliaments in which politicians of all persuasions have repeatedly stated their unswerving support for the NHS, why isn’t it working like a Swiss watch?
It could just be because the five-year parliamentary term does more harm than good. Policies and funding levels are seen to change as one administration gives way to another, rather than there being a long-term rolling strategic plan for health in the UK that all political parties represented at Westminster should be made to sign up to.
We have a chance in the current election for that to happen. All parties could agree to support the new chief executive of the NHS, Simon Stevens, and provide him with the necessary funding, staffing and legal framework that he needs in order for him to succeed.
Will that ever happen? Would the Green Party, UKIP, Labour and all the other political parties get together for the sake of the nation’s health, or does the public have to continue watching political football matches, as doctors and nurses struggle to contend with political incompetence?
GRAHAM CARPENTER Leominster
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