Surely the NHS is a good cause we must fund

IT’S shameful where Britain sits in international league tables for CT and MRI scanners per million of the population (Mail). What an indictment of a first world country with the fifth largest economy.

The NHS needs root and branch reform to cut waste and maximise purchasing power. We need to add to clinical and frontline staff and drastically reduce management.

Fully integrating with social care should be a priority.

But where do we find the funding? How about switching half of the National Lottery money for good causes to the NHS?

Maybe a little less funding of potential Olympic participants would not go amiss.

Their sporting efforts have had little impact on the nation’s health, as shown by the continuing obesity epidemic.

ROD CRISP, Hunstanton, Norfolk.

My stark choice

I AM a pensioner who is caring for my husband who suffered a severe stroke five years ago.

I paid to have cataract surgery rather than wait to reach the top of the NHS list because I need to drive. I also have arthritis in my right hip and need a replacement.

I don’t have unlimited funds, so I have to make a stark choice. Our heating system is, like me, showing its age. I can’t afford to spend up to £15,000 on hip surgery and replace the boiler.

As I have no wish to freeze during a cold, damp Welsh winter, it will be the boiler that gets replaced, not my hip. At least I will be warm while I hobble around waiting for a hospital appointment.

PAM FREIDENFELDS, Swansea.

Waiting for the call

I’M GLAD that those opting to go private can afford to do so and I wish them a pain-free future. I have osteoarthritis in both knees and am waiting to get the call from the NHS because I know there are a lot of people in a far worse situation.

Surgeons and nursing staff are doing their best under exhausting circumstances, but the main problem facing the NHS is the shortage of beds.

RONALD BALL, Farnborough, Hants. MY WIFE and I have had minor surgery at a private hospital to avoid what could have been a two-year wait on the NHS.

It was a perfect solution for us, but why not encourage others to do the same and take the pressure off the health service by offering a substantial tax benefit?

BILL GROVER, Poole, Dorset.

Selfish drivers

I ENJOY walking in the countryside — the open space, wonderful views and peaceful silence broken only by birdsong.

But I am shocked by the litter discarded on roadsides by selfish drivers. On motorway slip roads there is so much rubbish that’s been thrown out of vehicle windows. Why can’t it be cleared up by prisoners serving short sentences? It would be far better than staring at the cell walls all day, waiting for their release date. SHIRLEY BARKER,

address supplied.

Honour our promises

I FIND it difficult to believe that the Government has still not taken the promised action to safeguard Afghan interpreters and translators who worked for the British Army.

They put their lives and those of their families at great risk. It appears we have been selective when considering offering a home in Britain to these brave people.

Many have had their requests for settlement turned down for the most trivial reasons and been abandoned to their fate with the resurgence of the Taliban.

Surely those who put their lives on the line to work for the British Army should take priority over the influx of migrants crossing the Channel illegally? We should honour our obligations and do the right thing for the interpreters who have given this country such loyal service.

PAMELA BULMER, Knaresborough, N. Yorks.

Cult of hyper sensitive

I COMMEND Jenni Murray’s view that it’s time to kill this cult of the hyper sensitive (Mail).

Having worked for many years in business, I certainly would not condone harassment. However, it seems today that if someone makes a flippant comment or joke, umbrage can be taken and it can end up at an industrial tribunal.

Thank goodness the judge ruled in a recent case that though a boss made comments that were ‘clumsily put’, it did not warrant 42 claims ranging from discrimination and sexual harassment to harassment relating to age and/or sexual orientation.

With a huge backlog of court cases due to the pandemic, why are we wasting time on such ridiculous claims?

PETER DAY, Tiverton, Devon.

Britain got it right

THE insightful article by Professor Angus Dalgleish comparing the response of Australia and Sweden to Covid is a brilliant answer to all the doomsayers who forecast dire consequences if restrictions were lifted here.

Covid numbers are dropping, vaccinations are rising and we are leading normal lives once again. Hopefully, the scaremongering scientists will be silenced.

Lockdowns were a curse for the economy and mental health.

My daughter lives in Hanoi. Despite Vietnam handling the first Covid outbreaks brilliantly, it now has a very serious situation with draconian lockdowns, police on the streets manning road blocks and fining people for leaving their homes.

Its borders have been closed to tourists for 17 months with only essential workers allowed to enter and being subjected to strict quarantine, but this has not stopped the spread of the virus.

Like Australia, only a fraction of Vietnam’s population has been jabbed. So well done to Britain for our brilliant vaccination roll-out.

Let’s move forward with a positive attitude and confidence in the future.

ELIZABETH QUIN, Bournemouth, Dorset.

£100 million Jackpot

DURING his Aston Villa career, Jack Grealish was the most fouled player in the Premier League, so he’s earned his record £100 million move to Manchester City in bruises alone.

Certainly Villa fans will regret his departure, but they must also acknowledge the part he played in helping their team back into the big time.

The huge fee also reminds England fans that manager Gareth Southgate blundered in restricting Jack to the subs’ bench for most of the Euros.

I bet he picks him for the next international. PAUL MARSTON, Walsall, W. Mids. THE great Jimmy Greaves was sold to Spurs in 1961 for a then record fee of £99,999 because he didn’t want to be the first £100,000 player. It begs the question what he’d have been worth today.

KEN SEAGER, Bradwell, Norfolk.