RUTH Wishart’s Sunday article was pure gold (Tories’ budget carnage is proof they can’t be trusted with the economy, Nov 20)! It should be printed as a leaflet with the paper to be freely used by all subscribers. I would happily put it through every door in my area.
On Monday, however, I feel Alex Leggatt’s letter – excellent as it was with the analysis of the increase/cut to the English NHS budget – should have one more paragraph, highlighting an aspect of its effect on the Scottish NHS budget that few seem to realise. Every element of funding for a devolved area is calculated as a Scottish population percentage of the amount allocated to the same reserved area. The element, therefore, for the SNHS, as with every other devolved power, will always be approx 8.3% of whatever reduced funding is allocated in England.
That will keep on reducing, with more and more parts of the English NHS being handed over to private companies, such as the American company which recently won the tender to run a regional health board and immediately closed some GP practices and reduced some others to nurse-led only.
P Davidson
Falkirk
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