SIR - Anyone who has ever strayed on to the eBay site in search of that bargain, that chance in a lifetime buy or merely in search of something desirable, will know that it is, in essence, an auction house where people, wherever they are, bid for the same item before the clock runs out.

Towards the end of the auction there is a frenzy of bidding. The highest bid wins. Is it right that many doctor’s surgeries have now instigated similar arrangements, irrespective of one’s condition or employment considerations?

Phone for an appointment to see a doctor and you will be told that they can accommodate you in around four weeks, by which time you have either self-healed, self-harmed or died. But, they add rather patronisingly, “You can go on-line at 6am tomorrow when we release appointments, or you can sit in the waiting area tomorrow from 8am until 10.30 am and see what becomes available. No, you’re not guaranteed to get to see a doctor that way….”

Sit at the computer at 6am the next morning and the eBay aficionados scoop up the appointments by about 6.02am! And one wonders why Accident and Emergency departments are overrun!

A Waterhouse, Barmby Road, Bradford