RECENT visits to a doctors and a dentist surgery have advised me that 78 hours were lost during the month of October at the former through ‘non-attendance’ for appointments and 261 hours for the period January to September at the latter due to ‘non-attendance’ and ‘late cancellations’.

If this is prevalent throughout the UK I would suggest the state of the NHS is not just a government problem but one for society.

Perhaps The Northern Echo should investigate this in support of the government but, hold on, I do get the impression they are not particularly supportive of this government.

I have survived, with my wife, over the years no matter if Labour or the Conservatives are in government despite for example, a 15 per cent mortgage rate during the 1970s – we concentrated on the essentials which didn’t involve holidays overseas or attending theme parks to entertain the children.

Mike Taylor, Darlington