Sir, On a day when Sir Michael Marmot鈥檚 landmark review shows health inequalities widening beyond belief, it is disheartening to see quotes about doctors 鈥渕oaning鈥 and 鈥渟itting on their hands鈥 (, Feb 25).
The Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health represent 56,000 doctors, who work incredibly hard in some of the most challenging times that the NHS has faced. Most doctors are so overwhelmed with the pressures of the NHS that they feel unable to change the system around them. The public rightly expects doctors to be honest about the challenges they face, particularly when the facts and figures are indisputable: there simply are not enough doctors to treat the growing number of patients, many with an increasingly complex range of conditions. The focus should be on the urgent calls for the government to adopt the recommendations made in and to close the health inequalities gap, not on the doctors who are on the front line, saving lives.
Professor Russell Viner, president, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Professor Andrew Goddard, president, Royal College of Physicians