To save the NHS, Labour must consult GPs, not echo chambers | Letter

As a GP I am delighted to see an end to 14 years of ruthless exploitation of the NHS by a Conservative government that at every stage has minimised, avoided and denied all wrongdoing. As Wes Streeting rightly said, the NHS is “broken” and we have felt this most keenly at the front door of the NHS – primary care.

Lord Darzi (‘A proper diagnosis’: Prof Lord Darzi, keyhole pioneer asked to unpick NHS, 11 July) has always maintained that primary care needs more investment, and few would dispute this. Many GPs, however, are experiencing a sense of déjà vu. Eyes are rolling among grassroots practitioners old enough to remember what Lord Darzi did last time: he created expensive outpatient clinics that eventually closed because they were too expensive to run. As a city surgeon with a niche interest in robotic surgery, his insular vision of primary care led to policy failure, particularly in rural general practice.

This is not to discredit him as a person – his achievements are impressive – but this was very predictable. Primary care policy should be made by experts in primary care.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand the problems in the NHS, and if Labour wants to know how to save the NHS from dying, it needs to consult the frontline GPs fighting for its survival. It doesn’t need to create more echo chambers and dangerous groupthink. We need less ego and megalomania in the leadership of the NHS and more common sense.
Dr. Seema Haider
Wickford, Essex