Letter: Ashamed to be thought an NHS fat cat Dangers of health service driven by profit

Nicholas Timmins' article and Marek Kohn's "Unhealthy state of affairs" (l September) were interestingly complementary. Kohn concluded: "In order to make an unequal society healthier, its wealth must first be redistributed."

In an unequal society it is not wealth that will trickle down from rich to poor but the cupidity that inspires it, which is why I shall resist DSS posters exhorting me to "Beat a cheat" on benefit. A society that breeds fat cats in the boardroom will inevitably be littered with scrawny moggies in the basement. It's only natural if they scrabble for a lick of cream.

John D Hadfield

Bideford, North Devon