Sir – The Government is busy agreeing huge NHS contracts with private firms while claiming that it is not privatising the NHS. Ian Hudspeth said it again at the hustings at Wesley Memorial Church on March 16 (where he was standing in for the Conservative MP): “The NHS is not being privatised. It is still free at the point of use.”

That is not the point. Privatisation is about the way of delivering the service, not the charge. (Electricity, gas, telephones and trains were all charged for both before and after privatisation.) You’d think that the government would be proud to say that they are allowing privatisation in the NHS, because they believe that privatisation improves services. Or do they? We have seen little signs of improvement in the NHS in recent years and many signs of deterioration. Hinchinbrooke Hospital failed badly after being given over to a private company to run.

More insidious is the fragmentation of effort and the effect on morale. It is hard to work as a team when different employers are involved in the same hospital. Workers have less and less protection of their pay and conditions and cannot give of their best.

We need a word for what has been happening and will continue to happen at an accelerating pace if the Conservatives are re-elected, as recent news (of a £780 million contract for elective operations and a £1.2 billion contract for cancer care) shows. If not privatisation, then what? And do we want it?

Jeanne Warren
Garsington