Patricia Hewitt: You Ask The Questions

When were you last in hospital and what were you in for? JAMES BRINKLEY, Manchester

Just before Easter for a short procedure. Forgive me if I don't go into gory details.

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How do you feel, as a Labour minister, to have put the party behind the Tories on health? SUE HARRISON, Leyton

The polls that matter most to me are of patients - and nine out of 10 recent hospital patients say they are satisfied with the care they received.

Inflation is 4.8 per cent. Nurses pay is to rise by 1.9 per cent. How can you justify that? K GRAIN, by email

We will never do anything to take us back to the days of raging inflation and double-digit interest rates. So this year, while we accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies (including 2.5 per cent for nurses), we also decided to stage the pay rises with 1.5 per cent from April and the rest from November.

Why did you allow the GPs, consultants, etc to get such cushy pay deals? PETE BARRY, Surrey

We have more GPs - and more trainees - than ever before. And with the new performance-related pay system, GPs' increased earnings are a result of doing more preventive work. Thousands of people at risk of a heart attack are alive and well today because of the new contract.

If you can divide the Home Office in six weeks, why has it been impossible so far to banish mixed-sex wards (and don't tell me a curtain is enough)? LEAH CAMPBELL, Herts

Of course a curtain isn't enough. Most hospitals are offering most of their patients single-sex sleeping accommodation, toilets and bathrooms, and new hospitals (about 120 of them) have far more single rooms and four-bed rooms with their own bathrooms. But we are paying extra attention to the small minority that are routinely putting men and women in the same wards, to get the problem sorted out.

How will you tackle the crisis in abortion care caused by more doctors opting out? KATE TAYLOR, Hull

The number of abortions being performed has hardly changed year on year - and more abortions are now done earlier in pregnancy.

Will you be on holiday on 1 August when those unfortunate 12,000 plus doctors without posts join the dole queues? MAGGIE WRIGHT RN, Doncaster

It is simply not true that 12,000 doctors will be without posts. There has always been intense competition for training posts and that is true again this year, even though more training posts are available than ever before. A large number of this year's applicants are already working in non-training jobs in the NHS, which will still be there in addition to the training posts.

Why have you taken no action to tackle the systemic failures in some out-of-hours GP services? SANDRA MILNER, London

The local NHS, through the primary care trust, now has to ensure that there are proper arrangements, meeting national standards. Eight out of 10 patients tell us they're happy with their local out-of-hours service

Do you agree with the opinion of the junior doctors surveyed by the BMA who believed the NHS would be sold to the private sector within 10 years? NADEEM AFZAL, Birmingham

No. We will never change the values of the NHS - a universal service, tax-funded, based on clinical need and free at the point of use. But where the independent sector can help give NHS patients better, faster care, we will use it.

Which is the greater disaster for the NHS : the IT system nobody wanted or the Private Finance Initiative rip-offs? CHRIS SMITH, by email

Talk to the consultants who are already using the digital imaging system (Pacs). They love it. No more time wasted, waiting for delayed or lost X-rays; GPs and specialists able to view images simultaneously; more accurate, faster diagnosis for patients. As for PFI, we couldn't have built or refurbished over 100 new hospitals without it.

Why is no English test required of doctors recruited by the NHS from other EU countries? Surely reliable communication is as important for a doctor from Greece as it is for one from Pakistan? VASSOS STATHOPOLOUS, by email

I agree. It's the responsibility of the employer - hospital, primary care trust or GP practice - to ensure their employees can speak English well enough to care for patients properly.

I would have no objection to being charged a modest co-payment to see my GP. Can you envisage a day everyone - apart from those who qualify for benefits - pays for routine consultations? BRENDAN FOSTER, London

It's not something I would want to see. The NHS is one of the fairest health services in the world. If you extend charges, you risk destroying that fairness.

Whatever happened to NHS dentistry? Hasn't it been quietly abolished? SALLY JACOBSEN, Manchester

No. We have taken on about 1,500 more NHS dentists - most of them in disadvantaged communities where people often hadn't been to a dentist for years.

Have you ever seen the file that MI5 compiled on you when you were a radical young activist, and if not, would you like to? PETE DAVIES, by email

No I haven't, though I believe it still exists. Yes, I'd like to see it, one of these days.

What are the results of your department's research into the effects of cannabis on people with mental health problems and should it be reclassified? ARDAL RUSSELL, by email

I'm in no doubt that cannabis use is harmful for people with mental health problems and the report you describe reinforces that view. So I wouldn't want to see cannabis declassified.

Have you ever used cannabis or any other illegal drug? CHRIS WALTERS, Birmingham

I tried cannabis once when I was a student. It didn't do anything for me and I never tried it again. I've not used any other illegal drug.

You sound very patronising when interviewed. Can you please stop it? IAN MCDONALD, by email

Sorry.