I've always been a huge fan of socialised medicine and very pleased with the NHS in general, however, something is certainly going wrong at present and I have a funny feeling it's the Labour government.

First the Foundation Hospital fiasco that Tony seems unwilling to back down on despite protests from his party and constituents (democracy? I hardly think so). Now, another barmy plan is in the works.

I made an appointment for my travel check which, just to waste time, is two appointments. One to tell you what shots you need, another for the actual shots. When I got to the surgery, there was no appointment for me. OK, so that's a human error and I can live with that, but the WHO says I need my shots 4-6 weeks in advance, so this seemed problematic. "Is there anywhere else I can go?" I asked.

The receptionist gave me the number of the BA Travel Centre, which is a private clinic and I gave them a call. They were very helpful and told me exactly what shots I needed over the phone, but the cost of the shots was more than I can afford - a couple of hundred pounds. Nevertheless, she told me that I only needed them 12 days in advance, so it seemed possible to get it done on the NHS.

I went back into the surgery to make an appointment only to find out that new government rules meant that appointmets can now only be made on the same day - no longer in advance! Not just for travel checks, but for everything! Of course, next week is new student registrations, so she suggested the only day I could call is next Thursday as Monday through Wednsday is completely booked up with registrations.

I found this extraordinary and asked how they possibly thought it could work. She said no one was happy about it and were convinced that it wouldn't work, but that there was nothing they could do about it.

Time for a new government, I think. Preferably one that lets the Health Service get on with providing health services rather than getting involved where they clearly haven't a clue!