IN reference to the letter on November 3, this Labour Party campaign over the NHS is becoming tedious. Your anonymous correspondent does not even give his name. Why not?

"Public sector marvellous, private sector terrible" is silly ideology, not based on experience or evidence. The former Labour government sensibly outsourced or "privatised" some health services, enabling the patient to receive better or quicker treatment, especially when the NHS could not cope with the demand, all paid for by the NHS.

Ask the patients who have benefitted what they thought.

Would they have preferred to have waited longer for their treatment?

Condemning profit is silly. 70 per cent of the NHS money goes on the salaries and wages of the staff, selling their services for profit.

And such is the concern of some staff for the welfare of the patients that they have been going on strike or working to rule in pursuance of their demand for more profit.

What matters is the quality of the treament provided by the NHS for the patient, whether through the public or the private sector. The private sector provides investment in health services which the NHS cannot provide.

The Conservatives have greatly increased NHS spending, and reduced the number of administrators, and increased the number of doctors and nurses, and improved efficiency.

Incidentally, the health services in many European countries, such as Germany and France, are excellent, and those countries spend a greater proportion of gross national product upon their health services than the UK.

Put the interests of the patient first, before ideology.

ALEC SAMUELS, West End.