SIOBHAN Baillie (letters, January 16) is to be wholly commended for saying that she will: "always champion the roles that are integral to the whole [NHS] system", writes Hereward Corbett.

However, her belief that the Conservatives' new NHS plan will ‘benefit us all’ is based on wishful thinking, not facts.

It is, in essence, too little, too late.

£22.5bn ‘extra’ is a lot of money, but it is less than enough for the NHS to stand still, let alone make up for a decade of the austerity that Siobhan's party has inflicted on the UK.

The plan focuses on unproven gimmicks - would you trust the care of your children to an 'NHS app’?

No, me neither - and unattainable aspirations, at least within the current structures and funding provision.

The two things that almost everyone involved in the NHS say will make a genuine difference to improving care are tackling social care (the £4.5bn Siobhan mentions won’t even touch the sides of that problem), and improved recruitment and retention of staff.

Even the National Audit Office said that the plan lacked credibility because the allocation for staff spend was likely to be spent on short-term, temporary staff rather than in a long term investment in staffing.

It’s also probably worth mentioning that the BMA, the RCN and the RCM, the key medical professional bodies, all believe that Brexit will harm healthcare provision in the UK - yet Siobhan Baillie supports this too.

Like her mum, I am sure that Siobhan - and her Conservative party - want to do the right thing by the NHS.

But they should, as my mum would have said: "Take a long hard look at yourselves".

The damage they have done since 2010 is incalculable.

The missed opportunities are unforgivable.

They could begin to address the problems they have caused - but the 10 year plan doesn’t come close.

Fine words butter no parsnips.

Hereward Corbett

Chalford Hill