SIR – All three main political parties can be indicted to varying degrees for introducing changes over many years which could ultimately lead to the NHS being scrapped altogether as a free-at-point-of-need public medical and care service.

Under successive Conservative and Labour governments (since Margaret Thatcher) the National Health Service has been first broken up into smaller chunks with an internal market introduced and then private companies have come in taking on an ever-increasing share of its work.

The present coalition government brought in the Health & Social Care Act which allowed for even greater private involvement including procurement of outside services.

Now we find politicians openly talking about charging for particular aspects of care, such as a visit to the GP’s surgery or banning certain people from receiving free care. And, of course, we are constantly told that the service is in dire financial straits.

It all seems like the slippery slide towards the end of a system which was originally designed to provide equal access to medical care for all its citizens, regardless of status or wealth. What is required is the political will to change direction and I believe most people in this country would like to see that happen.

David Hornsby, West View Avenue, Wrose