Frontline staff already know how to fix our broken NHS

I don’t agree with all that Jeremy Corbyn says in his Independent article (“Keir Starmer needs reminding that the NHS is not for sale”, Wednesday 8 January), but he is certainly right about the malign and parasitic effect of the private sector on the NHS.

There is an enormous and fundamental difference between a health service run in a businesslike way (sadly, often not the case), and a business that happens to provide health care.

The former has the mission to improve health and wellbeing; the latter merely aims to enrich its management and shareholders while paying its staff as little as possible.

Having worked in the NHS, I agree there is considerable need for reform and improvement – but selling it off to greedy developers and corporations is definitely not the answer.

It would be a good start to talk to and, above all, actually listen to the frontline workers who provide clinical care, and not the accountants and career managers with their obsession with (usually irrelevant) numbers and targets, buzzwords and cliches.

Bring the resources back in-house and out of the profits of private contractors. Don’t put your faith in some mystical AI revolution. It has its uses, but most of the billions spent on IT systems so far have either been totally wasted and written off or used to buy in overpriced systems that actually make it more difficult and expensive to provide care.

Mike Margetts

Kilsby, Northamptonshire

During the Covid pandemic, seven Nightingale hospitals were set up to deal with the problem. Why doesn’t the NHS recreate these hospitals to deal with the current flu crisis?  I think more than seven might be needed ("Flu crisis sees urgent hospital warning as cases continue to soar", Wednesday 8 January).

John Fair

County Mayo, Ireland

Should our populist party now be renamed “Revolt UK”? ("Reform level with Labour in new poll as Treasury responds to gloomy economy update", Thursday 9 January).

For reasons why, look no further than the establishment politicos of both main persuasions, who, over the years, have ditched us in favour of an insistence on multiculturalism, the encouragement of a workshy culture, and an obsession with all things gender-neutral.

Meanwhile, this financial year, my income as a pensioner was £12,912.47.

Politicians across the political divide have provided me with several reasons to hold my nose tightly at the next election and vote Revolt.

Edward Thomas

Eastbourne, East Sussex

Polling that puts Reform UK on course to be most popular political party in Britain marks a critical turning point in British politics – and is proof that citizens are yearning for genuine alternatives.

Labour, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, has presented a shaky platform that seems increasingly out of touch with the concerns of everyday voters. This polling data suggests that the public is ready for a real debate about pragmatic, effective solutions to our key challenges, particularly regarding the economy.

As Winston Churchill remarked: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Reform UK’s rise signifies a collective desire for accountability, an end to the stagnation we have witnessed in mainstream politics, and the introduction of bold ideas that genuinely speak to the needs of the electorate.

It’s time for all parties to recognise this shift and offer substance over rhetoric.

Alastair Majury

Dunblane, Perthshire

There has been much in the media lately regarding the grooming of white British underage girls by older males, and all our sympathies rightly go out to them for what they have suffered ("How one woman turned a small town’s grooming scandal into a Tommy Robinson-fuelled race war", Thursday 9 January).

However, no such sympathy seems to be forthcoming for Shamima Begum, who was groomed at 15 and persuaded to join Isis, an organisation that, like most in the UK at the time, she would have known little about. Far from being helped in her repatriation, she had her citizenship revoked.

G Forward

Stirling

Further to your recent discussion on the proposal to ban first-cousin marriages (Letters: “Kissing cousins”, Thursday 2 January), the prohibition is completely unnecessary.

The idea was proposed partially based on the commonly associated health risks it poses towards the couple’s progeny. However, it is similarly proven that other factors can have adverse effects on them, such as the consumption of alcohol, drugs and cigarettes.

If the aim is simply to protect the children from health-related harm, these should be banned alongside first-cousin marriages.

Such a ban would disproportionately affect certain communities, denying them the stability they seek and vilifying the many who are already part of such marriages.

Sabeeka Rashed

Morden, Surrey

Everyone wonders why Donald Trump wants Greenland so badly (“What does Donald Trump want with Greenland?”, Tuesday 7 January). The answer is simple: he thinks the capital of Greenland is “Nookie”.

When he finds out it’s actually named Nuuk, he’ll immediately forget the whole thing.

Mike Barrett

Ashburn, United States

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