SIR – Leading experts have warned that health and care spending pledges by both the Conservative and Labour parties are insufficient to maintain even current levels of service, let alone improve during the next Government’s term of office from May 2015.

A coalition of the country’s leading doctors, nurses and charity bosses have called for “a comprehensive, fully-costed spending plan...(which) ...is needed to secure an NHS true to its principles of universal health care, provided according to need not ability to pay”. Spending increases in the order of £4bn-5bn for each year of the next Parliament will be required to fill the funding gap simply in order to provide the same level of service as today.

With more than six months to the General Election, politicians need to be using the time in consultation with those who know best the problems currently facing the NHS and then adjust plans to allow the NHS to receive the finance it needs. If this means re-formulating their manifesto commitments to include tax rises (rather than cuts as mooted by the Tories) then this MUST be done. The vast majority of the public want to see a properly-funded NHS, ready and able to meet all needs.

David Hornsby, West View Avenue, Wrose