I AM exceedingly worried about the state of the health service and the government's denial of the problem and request answers to the following questions.

1.Why has Britain fewer beds than any other European country? We are the fifth richest nation in the world but cannot supply a basic need such as a hospital bed.

2.Why do France and Germany spend 3% more of their GDP on their health service than Britain does? This government and previous governments have failed the people of this country by failing to supply adequate funding for the health of the nation.

3.Why is the government threatening to take money away from GPs if they do not open seven days a week? Clearly, more money must be paid to operate those two extra days. Can the government explain the rationale to me?

4.Why do we not have a consensus in parliament on the way forward and on how much it really takes to supply our health service which is clearly a lot more than you are providing.

Yes we all want smarter working, we want better working practices, we want patients to understand that hospital treatment is not really free, that they should respect the appointments given and what is expected of them but to use this as an excuse for not providing the correct resources is a disgrace.

It is akin to rearranging the deck chairs as the Titanic sinks.

Prime Minister, please remember the parable of the Good Samaritan, about walking on the other side of the road pretending not to see. Can you not be the Samaritan who saw the problem and acted upon it?

Ian Greenhalgh

Bolton