Can I just point out that it is not the professional healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, osteopaths, dentists, therapists of all kinds and everyone else who actually speaks to and actively treats patients) that are dragging the system down, it's the middle managers who soak up all the money for not a lot of actual output.

I've had my share of 4 and 8 hours waits in surgeries, but I've also had prompt, expert and sympathetic care when it was urgently needed.

All systems have good and bad things. Our system is very open to abuse, but it also means that people in Britain know they can get healthcare without bankrupting themselves or paying out additional health insurance.

At the moment, the NHS is balloting GPs (General Practitioners - the ordinary doctor you go to see first of all) for a response to the proposal for extended working hours. Most will decline the offer, because they make only a set amount of money treating NHS patients and top up their wages with private patients or clinics. Gone are the days when Doctor Finlay would sit up all night with a poorly patient - now you're lucky if they set foot out of the surgery, house calls are a thing of the past.

LTS