Best wishes to Edwin Poots but he should not go private

I wish Edwin Poots a speedy recovery from his cancer diagnosis (‘I’m fighting cancer battle and I still have no date for surgery,’ January 20),

But I have to state that I would find it morally wrong for a politician to pay for a private medical procedure if he is unhappy with the waiting time to have the operation on the NHS (Mr Poots said he had not given much time to thinking about whether to go private).

As heath minister, Edwin Poots oversaw lengthening waiting lists in Northern Ireland’s hospitals and, as a member of the current Stormont executive, I believe that his Covid-related decisions have contributed to thousands of cancer patients having their treatment or surgery delayed or cancelled.

For someone in that position to now ‘skip the queue’ and pay to go private (using his taxpayer-funded salary) could be seen as a slap in the face to those waiting for treatment.

Stephen Ferguson, Belfast BT6

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