• MY father has a problem. It sounds like it is with his lungs. So my family and I decide he should see a specialist, and go to a consultant – the top woman in the country. The consultant runs some tests and concludes that we are right; and my father is booked in to have an operation on his lungs, for which we give our consent.

In the operating theatre, the operation commences, and the consultant, assisted by other experienced professionals in the hospital, commence surgery. But after they open my father up, it is totally clear that the problem is not with his lungs at all – it is with his heart. And he needs heart surgery pretty damn quick.

But the consultant (and her colleagues) do not want to lose face. And they come back to my family telling us that although my fathers lungs are perfectly OK, and he has a serious heart condition that needs addressing, they are still going press forward with the lung operation, as that is what their initial diagnosis revealed, that is what they said they would do and moreover, that is what our family agreed.

We protest hugely at this but to no avail. They continue to perform an operation on his perfectly healthy lungs, leaving his dangerous heart condition untreated. Why is it that all other professionals are able to analyse and admit their mistakes and rectify the same, but for some reason, the same does not apply to politicians?

GREG CARSON
NW5