The Argus is to be congratulated for publishing Maureen Lawrence's outstanding letter on breast cancer care facilities (Letters, October 11).

Common sense tells us we need a unit at Haywards Heath to cover the Mid Sussex area and one based at Brighton to cover the city and the coastal strip. But we are told there is not enough money.

When the French health minister recently called the NHS "medieval", he was not talking about the skill and dedication of our doctors and nurses but a lack of funding in the system.

France and Germany are widely acknowledged to have the best health-care systems in Europe. Why is this?

It's not because they have a magic wand but because, year on year, they consciously devote a much greater proportion of their national wealth to health care. It's about time we grasped the nettle on this issue.

At the root of our failings in health care is the lack of resources given to the NHS. This problem is not a short-term emergency. It is the result of government policy going back decades.

During the long period of Tory government under Margaret Thatcher and John Major, spending on the NHS increased. But, crucially, the increased resources made available failed to match the growing needs of the NHS.

Labour continued this folly. The inevitable consequence of its slavish adherence to Tory spending plans from 1997 to 1999 meant the NHS again did not receive the resources it needed.

There is no dodging the issue. If we want a world-class health service, we must dramatically increase the proportion of our national income we devote to it.

The equation is simple: The health of our nation equals the wealth of our nation.

-John Hodgson, Capel Avenue, Peacehaven