I couldn't disagree more with the statement by Ian Mean on your 'Business Today' page (December 16) that the NHS is also a business. While it may be the biggest employer in the county, this does not make it a business. As its name implies the NHS is a service. A business' duty is to maximise profits, the NHS' duty is the health of us all. Businesses are responsible to their shareholders. The NHS is responsible to the sick.
Many of the current problems of the NHS (apart from covid) arise from thinking of the NHS as a business. So governments (of both colours) have allowed private businesses to provide increasing numbers of services, which properly belong to the NHS. Shareholders in such businesses (which I believe include members of the current cabinet) receive dividends from taxpayers money, which was intended for the welfare of us all. This is a scandal, which should be seen and treated as such.
Mary Brown
Stroud
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