Covid crisis shows we must fix the NHS
IF THE pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we need to manage the winter pressures on the NHS and make them a thing of the past. I am a former nurse, so I know every winter is a massive challenge. This year, it’s not just the number of Covid cases. Reduced bed capacity, staff off sick or isolating, the inability of many people to see their GPs and a backlog of people needing other treatment are overwhelming the system. The powers-that-be seem to follow the same line every year, but lessons are never learned. Why can’t we have more capacity and a reserve of trained people to step in to help manage this situation? Fixing social care once and for all would also release the pressure.
M. crAMMAN, south shields, tyne & Wear.
What can be learned from Covid, so things are done differently in future? People with high levels of public contact — medical staff, those working in public transport and retail, hospitality, the emergency services and teachers — should be vaccinated first and this should be mandatory. Then hospital patients, the vulnerable and elderly. There should be a network of walk-in centres for everyone else. Enforce mask-wearing. Most of the public can be trusted to be responsible and considerate, but we also need enforcement in place for those who are not. If it was leprosy or smallpox, people would not have the right to choose to obey the rules or not.
J. gUttEridgE, reading, Berks.
Horace the Hedgehog. No trigger warnings or ‘parental guidance’ in those days.
I blame the publishers of the Rupert stories and my parents for the subsequent distress and debilitating effect this incident has had on the rest of my life. Or I would if it was true.
JiM AdAMsoN, cupar, Fife.
Don’t waste words
JASON Leitch on Radio Scotland said the story on the UK Government stopping free LFT tests is a red herring and that the Scottish Government has no intelligence that the story is true. Perhaps someone could pass that message on to both Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.
Nicola Sturgeon called it ‘utterly wrong-headed’ and Humza Yousaf made sure he got his stint on the STV news calling any axing ‘utterly reckless’.
THE NHS was set up to help people achieve a good standard of health so they could look after themselves. But it has morphed into a monster which is expected to deliver all services to all people. Should a measure of accountability be introduced whereby lifestyle diseases and minor surgery becomes the responsibility of an efficient, patientdirected, private service? The NHS should concentrate on A&E and serious diseases.
ANdrEA crooks, swansea. MY WIFE and I have been invited to If there was no evidence that it was true, why did they even need to comment on it?
JANE LAx, Aberlour, Moray.
Coasting by car
I QUESTION Mercedes’ claim to have produced a batterypowered car capable of driving from Southampton to Inverness without recharging.
I do not doubt that on a flat test track with a professional driver, the car may be capable of driving 583.5 miles on one charge. Having often driven to Caithness, I wonder how the car would cope with real driving conditions.
It’s stop/start at junctions and roundabouts before reaching the motorways. Then there is the long climb from Stirling to Perth and the ascent to the Drumochter Pass, after which dual carriageways are almost non-existent.
I suppose you could always take part in the trial of the Galleri test that can detect cancer from a single blood sample (Mail). When we tried to book online, we were told we would have to go to Hartlepool, which is 173 miles away. I rang the helpline number, which confirmed that’s the only option. The trial involves three blood tests over two years, so 346-mile round trips would be impossible. What a shame that the logistics of this laudable cancer trial have not been thought through.
JoHN sHAW, Nuneaton, Warks. coast the last four miles downhill to Inverness!
BriAN EArLE, poole, dorset.
Act the part
I DISAGREE with the view that only Jewish actors should play Jewish roles (Mail).
As Laurence Olivier told Dustin Hoffman, who would deprive himself of sleep to get into character: ‘My dear boy, why don’t you just try acting?’ d. JAcoBs, Weybridge, surrey.