Proof that NHS care is brilliant at the weekend
ON April 9, my mobile rang when I was away for the weekend with my granddaughter. It was my son, telling me my husband Doug had been rushed to hospital with a ‘triple A’ emergency (abdominal aortic aneurysm).
My first thought was: ‘It’s Saturday. Does that mean he’s going to die through lack of expert help?’ But I need not have worried.
The first responder had arrived within ten minutes, followed by an ambulance five minutes later.
Salisbury General Infirmary realised the extent of the emergency after a CT scan within ten minutes of his arrival, and Doug was rushed to Bournemouth Hospital, the local specialist vascular unit.
On his arrival, the top vascular consultant was scrubbed and waiting — all this in less than three hours — and his treatment in intensive care over the next 48 hours was second to none. He was lucky to survive: the percentage who do so is small. It was thanks to the NHS that he did.
The staff were efficient, professional and caring. The speed at which they all reacted without doubt saved his life. He is now back at home and thankful to be alive.
Mrs CLARE WIGMORE, Salisbury.
Poorly treated
Terry NICHOlSON’S account of the death of his mother who had an operation on a Friday (letters) brought back memories of my father’s death after his emergency admission on a Saturday.
He had pain in his abdomen and shoulder and, after phoning his GP, was sent to A&e. The doctor who saw him thought he was having a heart attack, despite his being on warfarin after a previous episode.
After blood tests, it was confirmed that he hadn’t had a heart attack. He was given paracetamol and sent home on Sunday. I was 500 miles away, unable to see him.
His pain returned, and he was back in hospital on Monday, this time correctly diagnosed with impacted gallstones.
He was scheduled for treatment to destroy them, but his condition deteriorated and the doctors could not proceed. The doctor on Saturday might not have seen the complete blood test results before discharging my father. eventually, my father had to have a leg amputated because a blood infection had caused problems to his circulation.
He suffered a respiratory arrest during the amputation and finally died four weeks later. I have no doubt he would have lived had he been correctly diagnosed when he first went to hospital. ELEANOR WILLIAMS, Shepperton, Middx.
Respect the result
IN response to eddie laughlan (letters, May 13), the significant word used is ‘minority’. The settled will of the Scottish people, determined by a democratic vote, decided that Scotland should remain a part of the United Kingdom.
Democracy seems to be a concept that has bypassed Mr laughlan and Nicola Sturgeon. What makes them think the minority should outweigh the majority? That way leads to fascist dictatorship.
The Scottish Government has had powers to vary income tax since its inception and has chosen not to exercise that power. For the past nine years, the SNP has deliberately decided not to vary income tax in order to continue a policy of grievance politics (the Westminster blame game).
The fantasy wish list of the referendum White Paper and its economic delusions have shown that heart cannot overrule head in the real world of international macroeconomics. Scotland has thrived and been an integral part of the United Kingdom at all levels; social, political, economic, scientific.
The upcoming referendum is on whether the UK should leave the european Union, not whether or not Scotland should remain a part of the eU, a simple concept that seems to elude the SNP and its supporters. Why should the 4.12million voters in Scotland outweigh the will of the other 46.66million voters of the UK?
rather than try to convince the majority, the minority have a duty to respect the result of the Indyref. Scotland should move on. JOhN MOOdy, Bathgate. West Lothian.
Major apocalypse
I WAS staggered at John Major’s speech on Friday, accusing the other side of exaggeration in the eU debate – this on top of prophecies of doom from Cameron, Osborne, lagarde and Carney if we leave. I was half expecting to hear about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding forth spreading disease and pestilence if we quit.
Then we had Hilary Benn telling us about the prosperity the eU has brought us – tell that to the Greeks, and to the young people caught up in the terrible youth unemployment of the eU.
An interesting point about the debate has been the silence from the SNP; they are supposed to be much in favour of it. Could it be that they know that perhaps 30 per cent of their support is against? Can they explain how you can be independent in a body that wants to move towards political union? WILLIAM BALLANtINE, address
supplied.
Students not to blame
IT is no surprise there has been a furore over what is deemed to have been a difficult maths exam. The paper apparently reduced many students to tears. I do not lay any blame on the students.
It is an old maxim that you cannot build houses on sand. The same is true of education. Unless you lay strong foundations, you will not produce students who have the knowledge necessary to give them confidence in situations demanding careful and rigorous thought.
Our schools spend too much time now on what I would call ‘soft learning’ instead of instilling the scaffolding which underpins and supports educational progress.
Mental arithmetic, rote learning of times tables and the essential elements of spelling, syntax and grammar have been abandoned in favour of reinventing the wheel
Kids can soak up learning in their early years like a sponge but, when we do not insist upon such an approach, it is no wonder that they find themselves all at sea with problems over maths and essay writing at more advanced levels. dENIS BRuCE, Bishopbriggs,
dunbartonshire.
Disabling the disabled
I’M A Motability driver (Mail) who has been living for 30 years with osteoarthritis and several comorbidities. I’m only 60. Calling Motability a ‘scam’ is part of the Tory ethos that looks upon all disabled people as a burden on society. There is some fraud, but it is certainly not the whole story, and concentrating on that alone contributes to the witch hunt against disabled people.
Margaret Thatcher initiated the Disability living Allowance to remove chronically sick or disabled people from the jobless statistics.
Tony Blair recognised chronic illhealth or deteriorating ability was lifelong and initiated the indefinite award to prevent people being dragged into a never-ending cycle of having to justify their disability.
This present Government has cancelled dial-a-ride schemes which offered a safe method of transport for disabled people.
Disabled people come second to anyone with a pushchair as far as the bus companies are concerned, and some taxi firms charge wheelchair users more.
Some councils are so short of money they are charging Blue Badge drivers for parking. Supermarkets tend to put parent and toddler parking spaces right by the front door, while Blue Badge holders have to walk farther.
I had my first Motability car 11 years ago following two knee replacements, at 49 and then 52. People call me ‘lucky’ for being given the car. I would swap my ‘luck’ for an able body in a heartbeat.
Name and address supplied.
Derek’s Forth fiasco
IF transport minister Derek Mackay brands the Network rail fiasco ‘incompetent’, what should we call his handling of the Forth road Bridge closure fiasco? The words pot, kettle and black spring to mind.
ALIStAIR PORtER, Kirkcaldy, Fife.