HAVING been recently hospitalised briefly for minor surgery I would add my voice to those who praise the dedication of hospital staff, all too often working under pressure. Without this dedication the NHS would surely fall apart.
This contrasts with the absence of pressure, plain to everyone in continental hospitals with their better staffing, equipment and buildings.
Yet 45 years ago, when I was in a London hospital for two weeks' observation there appeared no pressure. The wards were not full (no such thing as 'hot bedding') and the chap in the bed next to me who had undergone an ulcer operation was told by the doctor that when he felt confident about his mobility he would be sent to a convalescent home at Hastings to benefit from sea air for two or three weeks.
Just when did the NHS cease to be a health service and become an ailment treatment service working very much in arrears? – B.W. Wheeler, High Street, Newnham.