A doctor writes
Sir: The Middlesex Hospital Medical School trained my grandfather, my father, two uncles, two cousins and myself.
Mr J. Bernard was a patient in the Mid- dlesex Hospital many times, with self- inflicted ailments due to alcohol. I enjoyed his Spectator essays. He was of no conse- quence to anyone outside his narrow jour- nalistic world; however, he and his ilk have had a great influence on NHS medicine in Britain. Add to them the self-inflicted drug addicts, fake suicides, and 185,000 abor- tions so well described by Dr Theodore Dalrymple: all cause waiting-lists because they jump the queue.
We need 50,000 more doctors. France has 160,000. Last year in Britain, 10,000 new doctors were found to replace 10,000 deaths and retirements — out of 100,000. Only 3,500 were trained in British medical schools. British youth will not study medicine. They know that they will have day-and-same-night work for 25 years due to the incidence of self-inflicted disease.
In 1941, I was one of many 'created' a `doctor' one year before my finals because there were patients called 'air raid casual- ties'. The MBBS university degree should be reduced from six to four years.
John Kirkby Rowntree
Point Cottage, Mundesley, Norfolk
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