Left to suffer
I AM one of the 55,000 people who were going to have a non-urgent operation this month, which has been postponed because of the winter flu crisis in the NHS.
Because of arthritis, my mobility is restricted and I can only walk slowly. I was informed of the cancellation of an ankle fusion procedure at Leicester General in a quick phone call and told I would be given further information when the consultant had reviewed the situation.
Have these operations been postponed or cancelled? Does this mean we have to go back to square one and be assessed on how our quality of life is affected?
I appreciate Mrs May’s apology, but this doesn’t work as well as popping painkillers and hoping for an operation to put things right.
The main problem appears to be lack of beds, not staff. Surely we need a hospital building programme to meet the increasing health needs of an ageing population.
ALAN PAUSEY, Wigston, Leics. AS A RETIRED ambulance officer with 38 years’ service, I have some understanding of the problems facing the NHS: unlimited demand set against limited resources.
This is a situation that no private business would entertain or survive in. Continually increasing funding is merely placing a plaster on a potentially terminal illness.
The real answer is to change the public’s attitude. Too many regard the organisation as a free safety net enabling them to carry on unhealthy lifestyles with the assurance that the NHS will be there when these cause long-term illness or disability.
Eat what you like, drink what you like, do what you like with no responsibility for any outcomes.
Perhaps in the next Budget, the Chancellor could increase taxes on
alcohol by 5 per cent and ringfence this extra revenue to pay for drunk tanks to ease pressure on A&E.
Self- inflicted injuries because of drunkenness or dangerous sports should be treated, but charged for.
Radical measures are required otherwise we will end up with a National Health Emergency Service, with everything else needing to be paid for privately.
D. JONES, Wolverhampton.