Shades of grey

Brilliant! susanna robinson

I've often suggested that the best way of showing the lie that is political announcement is to implement their daft policies to the letter. Refer everyone for whom it is reasonable to entertain a diagnosis of cancer in the differential on the two week rules. We would have to have a code to identify those we were really worried about but leave the smug secondary care know-it-alls to sort the wheat from the chaff in the rest - accounting for the many cases they'd miss because they didn't fit the pattern. This wiould be closely followed by bleats of too much work. Brian Mansfield

Where has all the love gone? I like to think of medicine as one great big game of football played through the ages. With doctors on one side and a rag bag of illnesses on the other. In the past we wore ridiculously long shorts and smoked pipes on the pitch but we played with flair and pizzazz. We had fans who were passionate about us and admired us, cheering our corner kicks and throw ins, applauding our near misses, appreciative of our efforts. At half time the obligatory cute nurses would run out and sponge us down and massage our aching limbs. But now the game has changed. The manager (Roy College) has clamped down on creative play and made us risk averse, we prefer to knock the ball around the half way line like school kids and discuss tactics rather than play. The ref (Big Jim C) has really got it in for us (ever since we said he wasn't fit for purpose) and he red cards us at whim. We've lost our media sponsorship, the groundsman only works part-time and our fans have either left or gone into the VIP box where they shout derision and the occasional BOO from the Gods. We are demoralised, ragged and let's be honest, our defensive line has shot it. We don't need a Ronaldo, we need our fans back, we need our collective culture and our self-respect. But when a goal is scored against us it isn't just one nil. It's your Aunty Mabel's breast cancer that's missed; when the goalie fumbles the ball it isn't just disappointment in the cup, it's 100mg of morphine. So why don't the media and the Government hold up their supporters' scarves with pride and cheer when we head one in? And that goes for Prof Steve Field too! Kev

Thanks Kev! Loved the football analogy! Paul Manjooran

Congratulations Prof Field & good luck with the knighthood from a grateful government.
Yours basking in complacency,

Roderick Shaw Roderick Shaw