Snow’s article is a refreshing reminder that most of the NHS works very well.1 But it’s not just the media that concentrate on the rare instances of poor practice to make sensational claims that sell their papers: the government does exactly the same, apparently to turn our patients against us and support their political reforms.

A good example comes from the government’s own £23m survey showing that 84% of patients are content with their general practitioners’ opening hours; its response (presumably premeditated) is to beat us over the head with the other 16% and …