"This is not just about 'handles'....it's about morality and so much that is wrong...and pathetic remarks such as the one I have quoted above, do nothing to help, because people who give in all the time are actually creating this terrible situation."

Only partly. I heard about a case yesterday. In our area treatment for chiropody is by appointment and always has been. In this case an old gentleman turned up and wanted treatment there and then. The appointment system was explained to him but he was not interested: he wanted his appointment immediately. So it was again explained that the only way he could get treated that day was if someone did not turn up for their appointment; however as it happened in the other building about 10 miles away there had already been a cancellation: did he want that appointment? No: he wanted to be treated where he was, now.

After a few hours a district nurse arrived on other business and the staff persuaded her to squeeze seeing him in between her other commitments.

He has since put in a formal complaint because he did not get seen immediately. As all complaints have to be followed through properly, that's another cost put on the system.

So I don't accept that it is "people who give in all the time who are creating this situation"; there is also a lot of abuse in the form of people demanding that they receive special treatment like this man; initiating complaints processes that require substantial time and effort (since if they are upheld it could be very expensive for the NHS); not turning up for appointments; demanding the approval of expensive drugs that extend cancer patients lives by a few months thus absorbing money that would otherwise for more basic care like district nurses...