LETTERS

Protect the vulnerable

HAVING worked in the legal area of social care, I am only too aware of how poor our protection is of the vulnerable elderly.

While children have specific legislation and specially trained court personnel, there is nothing for the elderly. Under the Children Act 1989, children can be removed from an abusive setting. There is no such safeguarding for the elderly.

The Mail has rightly pointed out how pathetic the sentences for those who are guilty of abusing old people are. I have seen legal proceedings to remove children from abusive parents only to find these people are able to continue working in care homes, as the standards for looking after the elderly are lower than for children.

It is also right to describe the Care Quality Commission as toothless. Previously, health and social care units monitored homes and were linked to local authorities and health services. They knew the dodgy homes and often received information from the public, enabling them to build cases or do spot checks.

The CQC is too large, centralised, bogged down in paperwork and seemingly without the will to push for greater powers to deal with issues.

J. M. ROBINSON, Skipton, N. Yorks.

It’s time to act

THE Mail’s editorial comment referred to a proposal for a Royal Commission on care of elderly people. There was a previous Royal Commission in 1997, with the first report published in 1999, followed by a second report in 2003.

Successive governments have chosen not to implement these recommendations, presumably due to the cost. The Government should now do this rather than cause further delay by establishing yet another Royal Commission.

The problems an increasing number of elderly people will endure while politicians fail to make decisions are not going to be mitigated by another long process of evidence gathering.

PETER BREWER, Salisbury, Wilts.

The rich get richer

I AM afraid that reader Iris Dainton, who thinks ‘rich folk help to subsidise social housing’ in Kensington and Chelsea (Letters), is ill-informed.

Like most of London, the council tax paid by residents in the Royal Borough is one of the lowest in the country, ranging from £708 for band A to £2,124 for the highest band H.

For comparison, council tax in Oxford ranges from £1,200 to £3,600. Like me, paying council tax of £1,890, Mrs Dainton may find she is paying more than the rich folk in tenbedroom Kensington mansions.

And if the rich folk’s homes are left empty, they may be exempt from council tax.

W. J. STONE, Totton, Hants.

Tenants from hell

THERE are no council cash reserves to buy empty properties (Letters); the only funding available is for grants to bring empty properties up to standard, providing they are then let out for social housing for five years. I took up this offer and was happy to give a young family a helping hand. How naive I was. After rent arrears escalated and two court cases with two eviction dates, this family was finally evicted.

The destruction and waste left behind was appalling. I suffered losses of £20,000 and there were numerous letters from debt collectors and court proceedings for nonpayment of council tax, gas and electricity bills, TV licence and payday loans. Never again!

Name and address supplied.

Swiss difference

ON MONDAY, I drove across the unguarded frontier between France and Switzerland and saw no evidence of economic migrants. Two days later, I drove through Calais, where there were groups of young men waiting by the roadside.

What makes the UK a more attractive destination than Switzerland? Unless that is resolved, the problems will continue.

DON AINSCOW, Cheltenham, Glos.

Brexit charge sheet

WHEN presented with EU demands for an exit bill, the Brexit negotiators should follow the Tammy Wynette song No Charge.

For defeating Hitler, at a cost of nearly 600,000 British and Commonwealth lives: no charge.

For providing English as a means of global communication: no charge.

For sending tourists to bolster European economies: no charge.

For giving jobs to thousands of EU citizens: no charge.

The negotiators can then take the exit bill and endorse it: paid in full.

D. MACKENZIE, Telford, Shropshire.

No doctors in the house

THE Department of Health is to increase doctor training places by 500 next year and then 1,500 a year to 2020. It takes five years to train a doctor, so there will be no increase in home-grown doctors for this period.

Why was this not planned by the NHS years ago when we knew there was a problem? Instead, we have recruited doctors trained by poorer countries, who need them as much as we do.

As for the diversity drive for recruiting medical students, what about the foreign students we train? They will be tied into a four-year contract, but will we get recompense if they just go home?

Perhaps it’s time to start training our politicians.

J. FINLAY, Mayfield, E. Sussex.

University of life

FURTHER to the letter about training nurses on the wards, I would agree that degrees do not always prove your worth.

I started at the bottom on a lowly wage and learned on the job. Merit earned me great rewards. I began as a typist and worked my way up to be one of the top PAs in the City.

My last job before retirement was with the local council when a young graduate came to work in the office.

Her mantra was ‘ I know everything; I have a degree’, but she couldn’t spell or write a basic letter.

She criticised her colleagues, while asking for assistance all the time.

After a year, we withdrew our help, saying: ‘ You’re the one with the degree.’

It’s oK to learn the theory, but you also need intelligence to put it into practice, and appreciate those who have the life skills and experience you don’t get with a degree.

M. NUNN, Bridport, Dorset.

Off track

THE BBC ensured we all watched the healthy and wholesome athletics by making Poldark fans wait for the delayed final episode.

Broadcasting more or less the same programme at the same time on BBC1 and BBC2 at peak viewing was truly inspirational, demonstrating superior management judgment. No doubt a number of ungrateful and misguided souls will claim it was an abuse of the licence fee.

DAVE HASKELL, Cardigan, Ceredigion. THE BBC agenda for coverage of the world athletics championships appears to be to debate and analyse every nuance instead of showing all the track and field events. If only it was possible to bring back David Coleman: one man doing the job. Say no more.

S. HUMPHREYS, Carmarthen. EVERY time I hear the starter at the world athletics, I expect him to say: on your marks . . . get set . . . BAKE! J. PRESTON, Melton Mowbray, Leics.

BBC own goal

THE football season has started and there appears to be live soccer every day on ITV, Channel 4, Sky Sports and BT, but not on the BBC.

Maybe if the Beeb paid Gary Lineker less, it might be in a position to bid for live football, instead of just showing recorded highlights.

J. MILLER, address supplied.