Centre gave me best ever treatment
IN regards to the story ‘Watchdog puts doctors’ surgery on sick list,’ p.2, January 28, I have been a patient at this surgery since I moved to Littleborough some 14 years or so ago.
At the age of 80 I can look back on my life and say that I have never had better treatment from the medical profession in my life.
If you ring at 8.30am you can always get an appointment that day.
The GPs always treat you with technical skill and a comforting warmth and concern.
The administrative staff are unfailingly helpful, polite and charming.
The premises are clean, warm and welcoming.
I have come across these tick box exercises by agencies before in my 30 years in the army and 13 years in local government.
They mean well and do highlight parts of an organisation that do not meet current standards, but I do not believe that the practice has been a danger to the patients.
When I hear from friends at other surgeries that it can take two weeks to get an appointment it is no wonder that the A&E departments are overwhelmed.
I think that your headline using the phrase ‘sick list’ is an exaggeration, sloppy editing and unfair to an excellent practice. Roger Sargent
TREAT BEGGARS AS PEOPLE
MP Simon Danczuk’s recent comments on ‘beggars’ are not supported by his own research, ‘Beggars need a different solution to homeless,’ p.10, January 28.
They appear to be a more sophisticated version of ‘blame the victim.’
The full report of the research and a summary of it were published in 2000 by ‘Crisis,’ a charity trying to end homelessness.
I quote here from the summary ‘It is the contention of the report that reliance upon police enforcement policies such as zero tolerance schemes are an inappropriate response to a complex problem’ and ‘Of all those surveyed, just over half had slept rough the previous night and four in five were vulnerably housed.’
The more detailed tables in the full report show that some two thirds of beggars who were not also street drinkers had slept rough the previous night.
Only half of the beggars surveyed said they did so to fund a drink or drug habit and a half of the people with a drug addiction were already receiving treatment.
We can either treat street beggars and drinkers as a problem or we can treat them as people with a problem. Les May Crescent Road
MORE TO BE PROUD OF
LAST month I had the pleasure on congratulating Hopwood Hall College students and staff on their continued success as one of the best colleges in the country.
No sooner was the ink dry on that letter, it’s now the turn of our outstanding Sixth Form College.
They’ve broken their own record yet again to be named number one in the country for A-Level progress - for the fourth consecutive year.
That’s no mean feat in this time of ever-changing exam criteria, so it’s all the more pleasing to see our hard-working students doing so well.
Achievements like this don’t just fall out of the trees.
They are earned by the hard work and dedication by principal Julian Appleyard, his excellent team of lecturers and, of course, the outstanding young people themselves.
Yet another good thing Rochdale can be proud of.
Well done to everyone concerned.
Go to the top of the class. Coun Richard Farnell Leader of Rochdale council
ANGEL FELL TO PIECES
REGARDING Peter Baran’s column about the Rochdale Angel, January 28
This comes up like a hardy annual. It deteriorated due to frost damage and literally fell to pieces.
I’ve checked! Coun Ian Duckworth