""The real problem is that the majority of people in this country actually want the social structure of the country to be supported by government;""

Absolutely true Jack, and since that majority includes a majority of Tory voters, the mooted destruction of the NHS is a complete red herring.

I'm sure you are aware that no party could survive the dismantling of the NHS. It would be political suicide.

""There's no doubt the NHS needs sorting out - the glut of managers protecting their own jobs and disregarding real clinical issues is a real problem.""

On that point we are in complete agreement. Get rid of empire building pen pushers and bean counters, and the NHS will be as efficient and viable as it ever was.

Health budgets simply do not need to pass through all these levels of administration, each removing significant sums, such that the amount remaining for the front line is just over half of the sum input at government level.

The treasury could easily disburse a budget to each hospital, and with a bursar handling distribution, and doctors making decisions (as they once did) on the basis of clinical need.

Earlier this year an enquiry report stated that in 2008, the latest year for which they had figures, out of an NHS total budget of £68 billion, just £36 billion reached the front line.

If correct, that is an apalling misuse of finances, but not unexpected because Labour government always involves a massive expansion of bureaucracy.

If the Coalition is failing to handle this, it will be because they should be specifying which jobs should go, and making sure that those jobs are not in the front line.

Don T.