It’s time to take more control over our hospitals

THE hospital cleaning is done by subcontractors (Nicola Sturgeon says Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow is safe in clash with Anas Sarwar, December 2).

These subcontractors may subcontract it out to another company and so forth. The companies all want to make as much money as possible. The only way they can all get a bigger slice of the pie is by cutting staff and cleaning materials.

The cleaners will all be on a very poor wage and have little or no motivation. Many will be employed through agencies who also want a slice off the cake.

The hospital, like any newly designed building, will have design flaws, but the hospitals replaced were literally falling down.

Get it all back under government control – meaning nationalise it for the people. Kick out the subcontractoring companies, saving their cut, and employ the staff direct on a good wage. Employ competent people to run it and not friends of friends or political allies.

Jock Tamson

LIES, lies, lies and more lies.

The hospital shouldn’t have been opened until testing, inspection and all safety standards had been met.

It was rushed, corners cut, to be opened to great fanfare before it was safe to do so. As expected it has come back to bite their a***. Sadly lives have been lost already and more will die in this unhealthy disgrace of a hospital. Al McD

IN this story, Nicola Sturgeon says “Scotland has a lower prevalence of hospital acquired infection than the European average”.

Has anyone shown this to be false? If not, and it is indeed true, then surely it is fair to say that Anas Sarwar is unnecessarily undermining confidence in the care provided there?

We must be able to have levelheaded and fact-based discussions on these matters. Too often at Holyrood, Labour simply say black when the SNP and even their own UK leader say white. So forgive me if I’m sceptical as well as sympathetic.

It’s so important that the care there is up to scratch – but also so important that people feel safe to get care, if indeed, as the facts if accurate suggest, it is safe. How many warnings have we heard about people failing to get treatment over the Covid pandemic? This is already a problem we cannot risk exacerbating further!

William B

Glasgow

LET’S be realistic. Re-opening spaces to the community in this current climate aint gonna happen (Bulldozers move in to flatten Golden Garter as Glasgow locals fume over ‘stripped’ Drumchapel, December 3).

If there’s money to be made from building housing, it’s far more likely to happen. Especially when the city council is skint and doing far less for the communities.

Jill Ferguson

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