NHS England’s abolition makes us reflect on disastrous 2012 reforms, writes Dr Michael Cohen, while Jeremy Wainman decries the dismantling of a skilled workforce, Nigel Turner explains the reorganisation cycle, and Martin Shaw invites the health secretary to visit his local hospital

As the Labour party plans yet another costly NHS reorganisation, we should reflect on the former health secretary Andrew Lansley’s disastrous and expensive reforms in 2012 (Keir Starmer scraps NHS England to put health service ‘into democratic control’, 13 March). I worked as an NHS GP and hospital specialist for 25 years. Those of us working in the service could see where many of the major problems lay, but rather than listening to those working at the coalface, David Cameron seemed to be seduced by Lansley’s ideas.

The disastrous effects of the reorganisation were seen most clearly when the Covid pandemic struck, with respect to provision of personal protective equipment and the test-and-trace debacle. Effective public health pathways had been changed and there was no joined-up thinking whatsoever.