IN ALL the arguments and discussions about the Tory Government’s proposed NHS reforms, one term has been significantly absent.

I doubt if it exists in any Tory vocabulary.

The word is “co-operation”.

For the benefit of those obsessed with the “competition” gimmick, it is the idea that two people working together are far more productive than the same two in competition.

The principle is called “superadditive”.

A National Health Service based on co-operative principles would be far more effective both in costs and outcomes than the system proposed by Government with its obsession with competition.

What disturbs me more than anything is that co-operation has not even been considered as part of the case against Government policy.

G.L SAMSON Preston Road Abingdon