I was fascinated to read that Dame Rennie Fritchie has been appointed as commissioner for public appointments (news focus, page 14, 4 March).

I seem to remember that just before she resigned from South West region she said she could not work in the health service until there was a Labour government. She has kept her word. It seems to me that to have made such a statement can only suggest a touch of bias.

Perhaps the sizeable salary helps one become a 'beacon of good practice', as it is reported the NHS is. Anyway, how can it matter what the commission says when almost every post has to pass the scrutiny of the minister.

If Sir Len Peach, the outgoing commissioner, thinks there is no evidence to suggest that Labour ministers manipulate the system, he could not have been at his desk for the past 18 months.

Certainly, he has not asked outgoing chairs how the system has been manipulated to remove them.

Maggie Scott

Former chair (until 31 March)

Cambridge and Huntingdon health authority

Cambridge