Mixed-Manned Medicine
SIR,—As a member of the association set up by patients who have lost their patience, as Leslie Adrian puts it in an entertaining article, I should like to comment on the references to private treat- ment. The sympathies seem to be with patients who are 'compelled to pay in emergencies or merely to speed up their accession to a hospital bed.' Mine are with those who cannot afford to do this: the vast majority of patients. A group secretary writing in Hospital Management last week has denounced those consultants who 'believe a little state dis- comfort is good for private practice.' As long as those who can afford it will pay for privileges there will be two standards of service, and one will be not good enough. The articulate and discriminating, instead of 'opting out,' should endeavour to raise standards for everyone.
HELEN S. U. HODGSON
Chairman
The Patients Association, 335 Grays Inn Road, WI
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