£350m a week for a national care service? Hmm… time for some joined-up thinking | Brief letters

A quick side-of-the-bus calculation reveals that the £18bn annual cost of a national care service (How will Burnham’s national care service work – and how will it be funded?, 29 September) equates to about £350m per week. How fortunate it is that an option declared by Andy Burnham of rejoining the EU would result in increased trade and hence greater public taxation revenues of £770m per week. A chance for some joined-up thinking, perhaps?Mike CashmanMilton Keynes Since the early 1980s, GPs have recruited the teamwork of practice nurses to manage preventive healthcare (Three in four UK GPs ‘too busy to talk to their patients in depth’, 27 September). There are now 23,000 providing excellent care.Elaine FullardOxford At breakfast time on the day of departure (Eric Idle has had tons of celebrities staying at his house. God, it must be exhausting, 23 September), my mother would quote Walter Sickert, saying: “Come again when you have less time.”Bill BritnellShrewsbury, Shropshire Our three daughters are all coveting my 1970 orange plastic colander (Letters, 29 September), acquired with Green Shield Stamps – double at Tesco on a Tuesday.Hilary BrownKincraig, Highland Weren’t hedgehog-flavoured crisps (Letters, 24 September) taken off sale because they didn’t contain any hedgehog?Gillian BassettGreat Barford, Bedfordshire Seen on the side of a taxi a couple of years ago: the improbably doubly tautological “pre-book in advance” (Letters, 28 September).Ian JohncockBristol