WE hear so much about the millions, now apparently billions of taxpayers' money allocated to the NHS but never a word about how much of that allocation has been mismanaged or misdirected, or wasted on useless projects.

It brings to mind for instance, the infamous Dome, but one example of a multitude of waste of public money around the country your well earned money and mine (and I object) and still the millions pour into what is now a derelict site.

We are already one of the highest taxed countries in the world, yet the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his recent pre-budge statement indicated that the public, the taxpayer, should pay more tax than hitherto.

Is there not a strong case for alternative strategies than this never-ending clobbering of the taxpayer.

Should not the Government for instance slash the multitude of civil servants (pen pushers) not only within Whitehall but elsewhere around the country.

I would like to know what percentage of the current injection of new public money (£1 billion) into the NHS will reach the sharp end of the operation the hospitals.

Much of it is likely to be stifled by bureaucracy and overmanning of the administration.

That huge edifice, the Ministry of Health together with other Whitehall Ministries is an administrative empire if ever there was one.

How much does that cost? It eats into any allocation to the NHS with its army of civil servants, together with the many regional Health Authorities spread around the country.

Our very own state-of-the-art health authority in Pans Lane, Devizes with its wall to wall carpeting and other luxurious furnishings is but yet another example of waste at public expense; in the current climate it too, no doubt, will get its cut of new money, to the detriment of the patient.

If the aim of the Government is to achieve a public health service superior to that of the rest of the world, as they now promise, then, clearly they have to get their priorities in the right order far less bureaucracy, a health service that puts the patient first, above that of a highly expensive bloated administration.

There is, of course, one other alternative to that of the aforementioned, perhaps more fruitful in monetary terms that is the National Lottery.

If it were put to the vote right across the nation I'm sure the punters would wish their money to be channelled direct into the NHS rather than be spread around the country in penny packets, for the majority of the population call on the medical profession during their lifetime.

Surely that is a better, more fair way to ease the pressure on the NHS than to continue to penalise the very people who fill the coffers at the treasury the taxpayers.

K R MANNS

Blunts Court

Potterne

near Devizes