I regularly read Tim Siret’s letters (recently about NHS reforms, ViewPoints, February 16) with a mixture of surprise, annoyance and at times baffled amusement.

I think it is worth reflecting on the following with regard to the history of the NHS.

Since its creation in 1947-8, spending on the NHS has risen by a factor of about five times more than this country’s GDP and as a part of government spending.

This has taken place under governments of both persuasions (three if you count the present coalition) and about 50 per cent of this time during Conservative administrations.

The projected budget for the next financial year amounts to an eye-watering £125bn. This represents 17 per cent of government spending, second only to pensions and only just more than the welfare budget, which in total add up to about 50 per cent of government spending.

The myth and deceit peddled by Labour politicians and their supporters about Conservative privatisation and cuts do not bear rational analysis.

Remember Tony Blair’s diatribes about Conservative privatisation of the NHS during his time in opposition.

Surprise, surprise, he not only strengthened the administrative changes brought in by the Thatcher government but, when in office, positively encouraged outsourcing (privatisation?) of many support services.

No-one could have predicted the huge changes in health care and its costs back in the 1940s and bearing this in mind, it is futile to think that an organisation with a budget of this magnitude doesn’t need review and change.

Instead of dogma, Mr Siret ought to provide some objective comments about this important issue rather than puerile comments about “grubby hands”.

I am not some Shire Tory and believe in a health care system that is freely available to all citizens at the point of service but we cannot treat the NHS as some kind of sacred cow, with an administration that has grown six times faster than those delivering care.

Just one more thought, various members of my family have had at some point excellent care from the NHS – mostly during the Thatcher years.

IAN CUMMINGS, Gibson Close, Abingdon