WELL that’s rich isn’t it! John Whittingdale raising concerns about the state of healthcare in the town with Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health.

Mr Whittingdale can’t be unaware, surely, that it is his own party that is the author of the problems the NHS is facing?

Seven years of cuts to services and de-funding have clearly brought the NHS to its knees and we are now seeing the consequences of a deliberate strategy to dismantle our universally provided, managed, delivered and publicly accountable NHS - a long held aim of the Conservative party.

It’s also ironic he makes an appeal for support to Jeremy Hunt.

Doesn’t he know that the Health and Social Care Act devolved the statutory powers of the Secretary of State for Health?

A fact clearly understood by Mr Hunt when he acknowledged that he would not be the one making the decision.

The absurdity of it all. But then I guess that Mr Whittingdale has his voters to think about so needs to be seen to be “doing something”.

Does he perhaps think that Jeremy Hunt can make an exception for his own constituency?

It’s appalling that so many Conservative MPs decry the state of their local NHS services and yet are deliberately blind to where the blame lies and the wider intentions of the government.

Whether we like it or not, the principle of health equity is being rapidly eroded.

Sooner rather than later our NHS will be modelled along the lines of US Accountable Care which will ultimately lead to a two tier health system.

The increase in private health care advertising should be a clue.

Already NHS England has announced eight that will go live from April this year but there are many more in the pipeline.

It is even on the agenda for discussion by our own Success Regime whose proposals for primary care can only lead to further pressures on GP services.

Prue Plumridge, London Road, Maldon