The "concordat" between this government and the private health industry is odd (NHS treaty with private sector, November 1). Did no one tell the health secretary that the reason the private sector in treatment (as distinct from residential care) exists at all, is the time people are told that they will have to wait for treatment within the NHS? Admission to waiting lists is controlled by the very people who will perform, for their own gain, the operations in private hospitals.
Until central government acquires the courage to remove this absurd anomaly, forced upon the founders of the NHS by the power of the royal colleges, then the health services are not manageable. Able as the new NHS chief executive undoubtedly is, he has so little authority over the hospital consultants that he has little chance of bringing this wonderful service into the 20th century, let alone the 21st.
Cllr Tom Richardson
Oxfordshire county council
I spotted one of the Queen's Flight parked at Vienna airport on October 31. I found out later that it was being used by the foreign minister. Is it really necessary for a minister to fly around in such an extravagant manner? I shudder to think what it must cost. Perhaps when the NHS is no longer under-funded and no one lives under the poverty-line, then Robin Cook can be flown to foreign destinations in such a pompous manner. In the meantime I suggest he books a ticket on one of the four British Airways flights daily to Vienna.
James Sebesta
Vienna, Austria
