There was an elephant in the room which was not mentioned in the Gazette’s otherwise excellent coverage of the shortage of GPs in Thurrock. It’s the way the Tory Government is privatising the NHS by stealth.

This process was started by New Labour to enable the UK to be in line with EU competition regulations. Since 2010, the Tory led Department of Heath has continued this process at full speed.

My own GP’s practice epitomises the damage this has caused. Dr Shehadeh, his partners, salaried doctors, nurses and receptionists provided patients a service which had been built up over many years. When he retired, the two surgeries, in Grays and Tilbury, were taken over by College Health Ltd, a private company which answers to the bottom line. As far as I’m aware College Heath does not directly employ a single doctor in the practice - instead they use outside agency GPs to fulfil these duties.

This mean the patients rarely see the same doctor twice. Not only this, an agency GP earns far more than a salaried GP and then a sizable sum is added for the agency’s fee. Is it any wonder the NHS is hemorrhaging money when it funds exalted payments to agencies.

In my doctor’s surgery it has proven disastrous as when an agency GP fails to turn up nurses are often drafted in to take the surgery, when they should be doing other work. Nurses are the backbone of any good practice, expecting them to stand in for the lack of a salaried GP is unfair and has resulted in nurses who’ve been at the practice for a decade and more leaving because they are heart sick of being treated in such a shabby manner.

In 2008 the banks were bailed out with £500 billion of tax payers money, yet today the Government refuses to adequately fund the NHS, the most treasured institution in Britain. If we do not stand up for the NHS we will lose it completely. Defending it is the responsibility of us all, or are we silently going to throw away this wonderful resource which was gifted to us by our fathers and grandfathers.

MICK HALL

Grays