We should thank all who work in NHS

I worked as a hospital theatre-porter/orderly for a long time, more than 20 years ago, and recently due to a “life-style disease”, needed the delicate, close attention of many junior doctors and nurses as well as all sorts of staff at the William Harvey Hospital, so one could say that I have some experience of our National Health Service, on and off for the past 60-odd years ..... “both ends of the stick” so to speak!

There is still full care cover, the best in the world that will save your life as it did mine, an NHS free at the point of access for those who need it, right through any “industrial action”, as there has been for the last 70 years or so, in this country. As a patient in April I’ve seen it close up, unfortunately, or quite fortunately as it turns out. It still works, the NHS, similarly to 1984 when it was NHS ancillary staff needing support in negotiations, against an intransigent Government which was acting “politically” and not to the benefit of the people, I feel.

Imposing a contract on junior doctors now, with no choice nor any proper arbitration (as there used to be) for allegedly “better seven days per week care-cover” (not a great significant difference in actual patient mortality, by the way, so this is mainly a spurious political excuse) is not the way to start to bring harmony and encourage the two sides of the British economy, (employees/consumers versus employers/ owners) and we all know who has lost out so far. Despite the distortions and spins of politicians and their publicists, those taking industrial action here in Britain do observe the law and the morality of it, especially where our most valuable asset, our lives and our health, are concerned. So, in spite of some minor organisational or managerial problems occasionally encountered, I can certainly attest to the excellence still, in 2016, of our National Health Service, in particular that of Ashford, Kent’s own William Harvey Hospital, and all the associated agencies, services and practitioners here. “Bravo!” and a thousand thanks to all our health workers, we in Ashford ought to know how lucky we are. David Berrie, Elm Cottages, Wye Road, Boughton Lees, Ashford. Government are putting these values at risk.

We’ve already seen them make it harder to register to vote, soon they will redraw the Parliamentary map in a way that benefits the Conservative Party.

Furthermore, hidden in the Trade Union Bill is a clause that is deliberately designed to cut off trade unions’ financial support for the Labour Party – while doing nothing to limit the hedge funds and millionaires that support the Tories.

They’re attacking democracy by silencing opposition, whether it’s from unions, campaigners, or charities; and by changing the rules to make it harder for anyone else to win an election.

As the House of Lords debate the Bill over the next weeks, I can only hope the Government will take the opportunity to embody the values of democracy and decency they claim to support, and drop these unfair proposals. Peter Hughes, Christchurch Road, Ashford