SIR – The concept of GPs having their own patients (Leading Article, November 30) – as envisaged by Nye Bevan – was destroyed in 2004, when NHS contracts were shifted from individual doctors to practices. Before that, a named doctor had cradle-to-grave responsibility for named patients. The doctor was the general practitioner; now it is a general practice that handles those who manage to get through the door. Often the care itself is carried out by locums. The dissatisfaction, among both patient
SIR – Amid all the much-deserved criticism of Matt Hancock and others now that there is blood in the water, the essential truths about our response to the Covid pandemic are in danger of being missed again.