Let’s hope this can prove to be a turning point for the NHS
PRIME Minister Johnson was taken into intensive care in hospital when his coronavirus symptoms worsened. I hope he soon has a good recovery.
He is in an NHS hospital, so is experiencing first-hand the amazing level of care our treasured NHS can give, even after decades of underfunding by the Conservativeled government. Our NHS is, and always has been, the gold standard health service, renowned across the world, open to all, rich and poor, and free to all at point of need.
The NHS, unlike the private health system, will deal with any emergency we might need treatment for. Too often the NHS has had to pick up those damaged by profiteering by unscrupulous medical practitioners in the private health system – a system that knows only too well that it cannot make money from pandemics like the coronavirus, only from offering queue jumping, vanity surgery and addictions treatments, for the rich and famous.
In this emergency our nation has been reminded how incredible a service our NHS is. How highly skilled and dedicated its staff are, in so many cases literally laying down their lives to treat us.
I hope when Boris Johnson returns from this experience, he will have learned how badly underfunded the NHS has been. I hope he has also learned, the hard way, why it is that there is no way our NHS can be used as a bargaining tool with President Trump in post Brexit negotiations for trade agreements with the US.
What Donald Trump should have learned, is that a nation’s health is too important to be flaunted by the ever-greedy private sector, pandering to its shareholders for everincreasing profits.
Max Cruickshank,
Glasgow G12.
DR John Cameron (Letters, April 8) makes a very interesting point today on how, or even if, lockdown should have been applied. He cites the Swedish Government, supported by Oxford University, of a much more relaxed policy with schools and businesses remaining open, against Imperial College, who’s policy of total lockdown persuaded the UK Government.
One of the factors the Swedish Government would have taken into account would have been the available capacity of the Swedish health system to absorb the extra workload, the UK Government would have done the same. The different answers arrived at tells us a lot about our respective health services.
When the dust settles we will be able see the damage done to the UK economy for not having the spare capacity in our NHS to absorb such shocks. Austerity, at least as applied to the NHS, will be seen to have cost us dear.
John Jamieson, Ayr.
ARCHIBALD A Lawrie (Letters, April 8) promotes medals for NHS staff and cites Malta during the Second World War as precedent. There was only one medal and this, and the note from the King, is still on display in Valletta. The George Cross is still part of the Republic of Malta flag and Coat of Arms.
While the top brass will inevitably see knighthoods and other awards handed out in the aftermath of the pandemic, awarding the George Cross to an “NHS GC” will be a fitting award to an organisation close to the UK collective heart, recognising the efforts of the whole workforce. Ross G Milligan, Wishaw.
I AM appalled at the crassness with which the sensitive issue of deciding who will and who won’t benefit from intensive care for Covid-19 infection has been presented. Coming from a medical family, I understand that delicate decisions are part and parcel of medical care, involving private discussion between doctors, patients and families. But a number of care homes have been told bluntly that their clients will not be admitted to hospital if they become infected with coronavirus, and they have been urged to obtain their clients’ signatures for “do not resuscitate” forms. The message? That elderly and infirm people are expendable – lives not worth saving as much as others.
The implications are that care home staff – already working in the twilight zone between the NHS and social services, and last in line for PPE – will be left looking after Covid19 clients as they miraculously recover or die in lonely distress. It’s surely an abuse of human rights.
This highlights the yawning gap in the continuum of care between the health and social services. This has been filled by hospices and palliative care teams, mostly working for charitable organisations. These people are a godsend when treatment options run out. But we hear nothing from Government about supporting these vital workers or harnessing their skills to help manage the pandemic.
These organisations are in crisis as their fundraising is curtailed by lockdown. We risk losing a wealth of expertise – as well as the dignity hospice staff can bring to the pandemic’s bleak drama – unless these institutions get the government support they urgently need.
Sue Armstrong, Edinburgh EH6.
I SUGGEST that until Michael Collie (Letters, April 8) has come safely through a bout of Covid-19 he should refrain from implying that it is something similar to influenza. I am recovering from a relatively mild dose of Covid-19 and I can assure him it is not like flu. Marion Bickerstaffe, Blairgowrie.
Letters to the Editor, which should not exceed 500 words, must include a full address (not for publication) and contact number for verification. Email letters@theherald.co.uk, or post to Letters, The Herald, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB. We may edit submissions.
YOUR article on the Fraser of Allander report (“Three-month lockdown could see Scotland’s economy shrink by a quarter, experts warn”, The Herald, April 8), begs the question: are we right to be crippling the economy to reduce the deaths and protect the NHS? I am of an age to remember the Asian flu of 1957-1958. I was based in Lincolnshire at the time and at one time we seemed to have around 40 per cent of staff off. I do not remember anything like the steps taken being as drastic as those being taken now.
If this lockdown is continued the harm it is going to do will be so serious that we must question whether there are not alternatives. Are we listening to the health professionals more than the economic/business professionals? At the time of writing we have a figure of around 354 deaths. This is about six per cent of total deaths we would expect during the period from March 1 when the first coronavirus death was reported. As can be seen from the curve we are probably near the top but can expect say, another 400 more deaths. Hopefully by midsummer we should have more effective treatments and testing methods to help reduce the deaths.
I expect that the First Minister is receiving conflicting advice, but let us hope that by keeping the social distancing rules in place we can let more people get on with working and save the country from a long recovery economically. We do not need to mirror the actions being taken in England. Then perhaps we should realise that we should spend a considerably higher proportion of our GDP on the country’s health and wellbeing.
Jim Mcadam, Maidens.
THERE has been much discussion about how we should refer to the coronavirus. I suggest calling it the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
Why? CCP officials knew about the virus in Wuhan, China, in early December. Instead of acting responsibly, they spent weeks censoring information, arresting citizen journalists, and punishing and silencing doctors who tried to raise the issue.
Naming it the CCP virus avoids linking it to the Chinese people, who themselves are victims of the CCP’S ruthless authoritarian actions.
Knowing the severity of the virus, the Wuhan city government even hosted a Chinese New Year’s celebration attended by 40,000 families on January 18.
A new study conducted by the University of Southampton concluded that if nonpharmaceutical interventions such as travel restrictions and social distancing had been enacted three weeks earlier, the virus infection rate in China could have been reduced by 95 per cent.
On March 12, the deputy director of China’s foreign ministry information department, Zhao Lijian, made the shocking suggestion that the US Army may have brought the virus to Wuhan. On March 19, CCP mouthpiece Xinhua News reported that there were no new cases of the virus in Wuhan, in spite of evidence suggesting otherwise.
Having friends in Scotland who were born and grew up in China, I am not surprised by any of the CCP’S responses to the situation. My Chinese friends are very familiar with its propaganda and how it runs the country. By using the name “CCP virus”, I hope more people will realise that the Chinese Communist Party put the lives and economic security of the Chinese people and the world at risk. All to protect its image.
Stepan Zatkulak,
Paisley.
PRESENTLY, whilst learning to live in this new world of selfisolation, we are all extremely appreciative of the work being undertaken by all within the NHS and all its ancillary fields, but perhaps we should also consider the contribution currently being made by so many others and whose efforts ensure our very existence is still possible.
Think of those you would add to this list – but to start: our bin men, bus drivers, police, undertakers, gravediggers, shop workers, pharmacies, delivery drivers, council staff, farmers and dairy farmers and so many others.
Nowhere here, nor do I think on any list, will be the money men (and women), who effectively make a living moving our money around, and yet they are the ones who are amongst the most handsomely rewarded for their efforts.
Although we can only start from where we are, my own take on this is to a apply a tax regime that more mirrors the contribution the individual makes to society (effectively applying a significantly higher tax rate to those who make no meaningful contribution whatsoever to our society) and, with the increased income, the Government should reward those upon whom we all really depend. Alan Mckinney,
Edinburgh EH16.
IT is disappointing to read personal sniping at those luckless leaders trying as best they can to take us through this unprecedented crisis. I am no fan of Boris Johnson, but, like all of us, he is patently vulnerable. Likewise, our political leaders in Scotland have a task no-one could possibly envy them. They too are cut off from friends and family by this grim lockdown; they too are human. No one is “seeking the limelight”.
This is not a moment for political point-scoring: to show a little kindness at this time is surely not a lot to ask?
Ailsa Ferguson, Glasgow G12.
HMM. Where are all the people who normally crowd out the A&E departments? The pubs and clubs are closed so that takes care of a lot of them, and maybe some have found that a paracetamol or a plaster will suffice.
Steve Barnet, Gargunnock.