Sir, In his last article for your paper, Dudley Treffry (April 20) used his space to comment on the health service.
Much of what he states makes sense so may I pick up on his comment that: “GPs are the main as well as the first port of call for most patients.”
This is sadly true which is why they are under so much pressure. The problem with the NHS is simply that it is no longer doing what it was initially set up to do.
In the post-war period when the NHS began, there were very few old people. They had all died either in the first war or the one just ended.
No provision had been made for this in the brave new world created by the NHS architects.
Today, the elderly account for 30% of NHS output.
Then there are two new problems facing it; obesity and mental health, both problems created by the very society the health of which the NHS was set up to protect.
We need to do the following.
We need to wake up to the fact that our food system is actually killing us. Mass-produced and processed foods are simply not good for us.
As a society we need to take more time for each other and the communities we live in. Mental health stems so often from loneliness and isolation. If we can tackle these two evils then there will be fewer of us knocking on the doctor’s door.
I am moved to quote or, rather adapt a quote, based on the words of the late US President John Kennedy: “Ask not what the NHS can do for you but what you can do for the NHS.”
A lot of this is simply down to personal responsibility. We are responsible for our own actions and we need to think about what those actions are creating. It’s not up to the politicians it’s up to us.
Christopher Trotter. Buckthorns House, Upper Largo.
Vital Angus care meeting
Sir, With the demise of in-patient care both at Little Cairnie Hospital and the Inchcape unit at Arbroath Infirmary, care of older people, including dementia patients, has undergone great change.
The League of Friends of Arbroath Infirmary and Little Cairnie Hospital provides a link between the hospitals and the community.
I would urge the people of Arbroath and area to attend the drop-in event organised for this Saturday by the NHS in south Angus.
With an ageing population, any one of us or a family member may require care and we need to be aware of the changes and improvements in health and care services.
This event is being held in the Old and Abbey Church, Arbroath, from 9am to noon, with discussion groups being held at 10am and 11am. This will give people the chance to ask questions of health professionals and to air their views about the new community-based models of care.
The League of Friends has served the Arbroath area since 1946 and will, through charitable and voluntary service, continue to support the work of all departments at Arbroath Infirmary.
Equipment previously donated to Little Cairnie and the Inchcape unit is safeguarded for use in the area.
Jacqueline Cargill. Chairperson, League of Friends of Arbroath Infirmary and Little Cairnie Hospital.
Glenrothes must do better
Sir, If councillors want to get people into Glenrothes centre, they must improve parking. Even with a blue badge it is difficult.
I have not been in Glenrothes for some time, even though it is closer than either Kirkcaldy or Dundee. On my last visit, all the blue badge spaces were full and I parked in a normal space but on the end so that I could get my door open and get a chair out.
When I got back I had a notice, not a penalty it’s fair to say, warning me that outside a disabled bay I must buy and display a ticket.
When I queried this I had a reply, from England where this is normal practice, explaining the company’s policy.
The only other place this has ever happened to me in Scotland was in Newton Stewart. In City Quay in Dundee you have to display a ticket but it is free to park.
Sorry, Glenrothes retailers, but other places have plenty of free parking for blue badge holders.
Laurie Richards. 100 Crail Road, Cellardyke.
Discredit Madras site
Sir, Many voters, probably most, disagree with relocating Madras College, St Andrews, to our hospital/hospice boundary, preventing its envisaged expansion forever and exacerbating Fife’s “bed-blocking” problem.
Access to the two critical public-service sites is by a narrow, single access.
Longer life-spans and north-east Fife’s 2,000 planned new houses surely dictate extra hospital/hospice capacity in the medium and longer terms.
Before Fife Council gets deeper into Pipeland’s mire, now is the time for Fife councillors and aspiring MPs to discredit the absurd “split-site” mantra by which it rejects the available North Haugh/ Station Park option.
A permanent, easily-built, dry, safe, fenced-off underpass through the dyke on which the A91 stands, would convert the two sides physically, logically and for all practical purposes into a suitable, superior single site.
John Birkett. 12 Horseleys Park, St Andrews.
Destruction by SNP
Sir, As an undecided voter I have been looking at all parties with an open mind and I am still to be convinced by anyone.
If anyone can clear up the following questions I might be convinced.
It seems Nicola Sturgeon wishes Scotland to be governed like the old Soviet Union.
The government is selling our personal details, and then there is the nominated guardian scheme for children, even those yet to be born.
We have seen the destruction of the police by amalgamation, giving great power to one person and destroying vital local knowledge.
Our criminal justice sector has been destroyed with the closure of courts, leaving the remainder so busy that they cannot cope.
Our local fire brigades have now been amalgamated into a national force.
This government never revealed these intrusive, destructive plans prior to the last election.
This is the same government that wrote off all the arrears from the poll tax. When do I get my rebate?
A Philp. 129 Cook Street Kirkcaldy.
Fiscal warningfrom Greece
Sir, As the pace of electioneering increases and Nicola Sturgeon promotes the SNP as a potentially responsible partner in a UK Government, we would do well to remember, from the current situation in Greece, that activists rarely have the competence and experience to fully manage the interplay of strategies and policies necessary for successful tactical management of a nation.
We should recall the long history of left-leaning government disasters.
It is no accident that the UK is the fastest-growing economy in Europe and whose fiscal policies have been endorsed by the IMF despite howls of outrage from the Left.
Derek Farmer. Knightsward Farm, Anstruther.
Room for new politics in UK
Sir, With the SNP being attacked from all sides, they must be doing something right.
But can they be trusted to benefit the whole of the UK?
With good reason, most voters are distrustful of politicians but surely there is an opening in British politics for parties that say what they mean and mean what they say.
It should only be fair to give the progressive alliance of SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party the benefit of our trust until we are proved wrong.
Geoff Naylor. 21 Birch Close, Winchester.
Unionist cash scares
Sir, Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy seems to flirt with distortions.
Sadly, he is not alone. His fellow Westminster-orientated party leaders, Willie Rennie of the Liberal Democrats and Ruth Davidson of the Scottish Conservatives, share the same flaw.
A great many adults have mortgages or bank loans: we live with a deficit.
This is only a problem if our income is not sufficient to service the debt.
The UK deficit is £93 billion, which is proportionately greater than the £7.6bn “black hole” which they claim a fully fiscal autonomous Scotland will have to service.
The income available to a fully fiscal autonomous Scotland is more capable of servicing such a debt.
Rather than trying to frighten the Scottish population with big numbers and only half the facts, perhaps the Westminster parties should try treating the electorate as adults.
Brian Rattray. 124/2 Gylemuir Road, Corstorphine, Edinburgh.
Menzieshill High consensus
Sir, As ‘judgment day’ approaches I note the growing consensus among progressive political parties regarding the need to keep open Menzieshill High School, Dundee.
Genuine parties of the left have united behind the campaign to keep open this resource which is under threat from Dundee’s SNP council.
I suspect that the council’s true colours are now showing and the cover provided by national opinion polls and Dundee’s high Yes vote means that they no longer have to hide the contempt they feel for our working-class communities.
Gordon Mackenzie. 28 Melfort Place, Dundee.