Letter: The NHS is no place to be a man

Sir: Surely, one of the contributory factors to the poor state of men's health ('Men 'urgently need to improve their health' ', 29 September) is the overwhelmingly female culture of the National Health Service.

At my local GP's surgery, all the receptionists are women, the nurse is a woman, three of the four doctors are women and, by my observation, three-quarters of the patients are women. On a recent visit to the local hospital, I must have seen 50 or 60 people. The only other males were one ambulance driver and a few elderly patients.

My impression of the NHS has always been that it is really about women and babies. Men are just a sideline and, at best, to be tolerated. If the medics are serious about improving men's health, they need to make radical changes in their attitude to men. Especially, they must talk, and listen, to men directly, and not through the smokescreen of the 'wife and mother'.

Yours faithfully,

PAUL GREENWOOD

Otley,

West Yorkshire

1 October