Challenges to NHS proposals

The cash offer to NHS managers to give up their jobs "is on the table until the end of October" ( £137,500 cash offer for NHS bosses to quit , 2 September). Does parliament not have to approve the radical proposals in the white paper? Unison is challenging the legality of these proposals in court ( Report , 24 August) because the consultation exercise which ends on 5 October is about how the proposals are implemented, not whether they will happen. The business director of the healthcare company Tribal welcomed the white paper with these words: "This white paper could amount to the denationalisation of healthcare services in England and is the most important redirection of the NHS in more than a generation, going further than any secretary of state has gone before." We call upon all readers to sign the e-petition on the NHS Support Federations's website , visit www.keepournhspublic.com to join us, and let their MPs know if they disagree with these proposals, which may lead to the NHS becoming a logo with fragmented services despite Andrew Lansley's assurances that it will not lead to the privatisation of the NHS. Wendy Savage Co-chair, Keep Our NHS Public • I was sorry to read of the government's intention to scrap NHS Direct and replace it with a cheaper alternative ( Report , 28 August). Instead of being advised by trained nurses, we shall have to rely on staff given a brief course in the entire field of medicine. What might the next such innovation be – perhaps a three-week course in brain surgery? Brian Hayes London