The attck on the NHS took a subtle new turn today - in the Guardian, of all places.

First the was the suggestion that GPs are making more mistakes. They are. I suyspect that's true.

The reason why is easy to explain. Average GP consulting rate per patient has risen in the UK from a little under 4 visits a year about a decade ago to about 5 now. I can search out a source - I read it recently; for now look on the web.

GP productivity has increased massively to meet this demand - which is not acknowledged in critics productivity data fore the NHS but one way of doing that has been to reduce patient contact time - something has to give.

The result? More mistakes. I don't pardon them. I'm explaining them.

We can have the NHS we want in the UK. We just have to decide to pay for it.

We can do that too.

It's called choice. But who is offering the choice of more spending? Because it is what is needed. Nothing else will work.