As a former senior manager at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, I feel I must comment about our local hospitals.

The present situation stems from the actions of successive Governments, firstly the Tories when they meddled with health care and forced hospitals to become trusts.

One result of GPs buying services for their patients was that many admin jobs were created at the expense of other staff, such as cleaners and porters.

Was it coincidental that MRSA reared its head soon after the privatation of cleaning services?

When Labour won the 1997 election, I contacted the Health Minister and asked him if he would stop private firms running ancillary jobs in the NHS. He said no. After all, their reason for existence is profit. Patients come second. Therefore, this is a very questionable policy.

To make matters much worse longer term, Labour then embarked on the PFI (public finance initiative) programme.

My only word for that is lunacy. What happens years hence when the trust has a choice between paying the mortgage to the private company and spending money on patients? You have guessed it the patients will lose out.

These thoughts are not hard to comprehend and it is in everyone's interest to ensure the NHS is providing a first-class service to the public. After all, they pay for it through taxes.

Unfortunately, these measures the Government has forced upon us are probably here to stay, like the water companies, so don't blame the NHS managers for this situation.

They are being asked to do the impossible. A few years ago, one chief executive put patient care before money and he is no longer there. I don't suppose your MP would be able to do much to redress the situation, but if you care about the NHS, please write to him and express your concern. You never know.

Once I was proud to work in the NHS, but today I would not consider going back.

Given that the NHS was a Labour Party concept in 1948, the present Labour politicians should be ashamed to use the word Labour in their title.

These so-called Labour MPs will never again get my vote.

I challenge Oxford East MP Andrew Smith to defend this Government's NHS policies.

Andy Hathaway, Grays Close, Chalgrove