Yes, criticism can be legitimate. However, we should be clear about what we are criticising. Are we criticising systemic problems (for example, lack of training in mental health because of lack of funding in education and health care provision); or are we criticising instances of poor practice (which can also be linked to funding but are also about individual circumstance and not just service-wide culture)? The former can be addressed by generous funding, the latter will always exist because some people are awful at their job - regardless of the system in which they work. Abuse, neglect and poor practice all happen in private health care.