Fining people £10 for missing appointments is a sticking plaster approach to a much bigger problem. It’s like taking aspirin to cure cancer. Missing appointments is a symptom of a nation, if not humankind, falling apart.

The human race, competing 24/7, is far too intense: from a child going to school and a parent going to work, and a GP with too many patients to gridlocked roads, very few people can cope.

While some people miss appointments because they simply forget, others miss them because they can’t be bothered to follow rules.

The simple fact is: as a nation, if we have no respect for the rules and each other for fear of being left behind in the ‘rat race’ ‘The world’ needs to slow down, with the rich and able doing more to help the poor and disadvantaged.

Allan Ramsay

Radcliffe