As two retired professionals who spent a combined 80 years working in the NHS, we wish to express our anger at Simon Jenkins’ article (Professions, heal yourselves – only you can make the public sector better value for money, 23 November). The truth is that many professions have suffered from a huge excess of useless and hugely expensive reforms and calamitous policy interventions.
Within these professions, one huge issue is staff retention and staff shortages. Many within the professions suffer burnout, long hours, poor pay and complete disillusionment. Jenkins squarely lays the blame for the state of public services at the feet of professionals: the student loan fiasco is the fault of the universities; the backlog of delayed legal cases is the fault of the legal profession; the healthcare disaster is the fault of the medical profession structure; and the overemphasis on exams in schools is the fault of teachers somehow. The real culprits – politicians – get off scot-free.
