I have some experience with socailized and managed systems. The kind of doctors who will work all day, and see 50 or 60 patients, no matter how long it takes are replaced by "shift workers" who see their quota of 15 patients, then go home. Oh, and don't bother calling them after they are gone. They won't be available. The system eliminates the former type of doctor, and finds more than enough of the latter. All the incentive to do anything is quickly extinguished by the managers who are more interested in allotting "15 minutes for this activity" and "20 minutes for that activity"... and the filing of forms to document everything so the budget can be justified.
In other words, the whole system has endemic problems which can't be solved with more money, or more people.

Tony Francis MD, Wichita, KS/USA

"THE FORGOTTEN GENERATION" - There are a large number of highly qualified doctors with higher degrees, who have completed their specialist training and are ready to apply for consultant jobs. The freeze on appointments has meant that these doctors, many of whom have been qualified for ten to fifteen years are facing unemployment. This is a catastrophic waste of talent and investment. Once the specialist training has been completed you are given a six month grace period to find a job and if you are unable to do so then your contract ends and you are unemployed. For people finishing between 2005 and 2007 there have been no jobs to apply for, not only in London but nationally in most specialities. It has also not been possible to switch specialities. Over 50% of the people I trained with have either left the country to practice medicine abroad or have left the profession altogether.

susan, london, london

The government were warned before they poured billions of pounds into the NHS that the vast majority of the resources would be soaked up in wages and the creation of new jobs. In todays society organisations are continually changing and as any large business organisation will tell you throwing money at a problem does not work without fundamental reform. Modernising the NHS involves establishing new working practices, business processes, communications styles and service culture across all departments. Unless the NHS undertakes a radical reform and devolve power away from Westminster it will never deliver to our expectations. The trouble with politicains is they have ideas, like the rest of us, but they don’t have any previous business acumen of running large enterprises in the area in which they take charge. I wouldn’t employ a person with no previous experience within my business domain to take charge of a large department. No wonder the NHS is wasting money!

John, Poole, UK