Our letters week concludes with criticism of Courier columnist John J. Marshall, Israel, the EU, and care of the elderly.
Wrong to condemn ambulance crew
Sir,-I am disgusted in the Midweek column by John J. Marshall.
The ambulance crews in Crieff and any other station in Scotland are professional and highly respected for the work they do. This sort of item does nothing for public morale and support.
Although the ambulance service uses the 999 number, they are in actual fact classed as an essential service and not an emergency service, which is why they don’t receive the same funding direct from government as police and fire services.
Crews will respond to any call they are directed, and if Mr Marshall has some form of inside information that the crew refused then he should say so.
I strongly believe that the crew in Crieff was not even told of the call by control in Edinburgh until their statutory break had been completed, so his facts are completely incorrect and inflammatory.
His closing comments of informing the emergency services of the personal details of crews so they can be denied help in a fire, etc., is a disgrace.
Perhaps Mr Marshall should be directing his comments at the management of the service who refuse to send a vehicle to a rural area to cover breaks.
Alastair McLean.4 Fletcher Place,Crieff.
Why credulous about Israel?
Sir,-It is my understanding that Dundee City Council was elected to run the affairs of the City of Dundee.
Why, therefore, does it presume to meddle with the Middle East? Why does it allow time to listen to crassly invented stories about Israeli aggression (e.g. what happened on the so-called “humanitarian aid” ship Mavi Marmara)?
Why does it allow Councillor Fraser Macpherson to waste its time calling for boycotts of Israeli products?
He obviously has no idea that tiny Gaza is opening its second well-stocked shopping mall, that it has thriving hotels and five-starred restaurants, giving the lie to his outdated belief that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by Israel. He has no idea, seemingly, that not only is there a free supply of goods flowing into Gaza from the Israeli crossing, but that Egypt has also opened its crossing.
Why is Dundee City Council so credulous? Have councillors never heard of checking facts facts that are readily available?
I suggest that councillors return to minding their real business, the City of Dundee, and leave foreign affairs to the Government.
Flora Selwyn.43 North Castle Street,St Andrews.
We have been tricked
Sir,-The relentless EU drive to centralise power on a global scale is now clearly evident.
The major target of this drive has been Britain, which has maintained the voice of freedom for centuries but which has now being tricked into submerging itself into a concept of Europe that is utterly alien.
This was done via the Treaty of Lisbon, in which impenetrable paragraphs and cunning harmonisations render us impotent to manage our own affairs.
Then we have the domestic green movement, whose subsidised windmill naivety wrecks our landscape and will have us back in the fiscal stone age.
And all, amazingly, supported by a coalition government borrowing money in order to dispense foreign aid to countries who dislike us.
Malcolm Parkin.15 Gamekeepers Road,Kinross.
Transferring the problem
Sir,-There are reports of poor standards of care for older people and those with learning disabilities.
Previously, these people were cared for in NHS long-stay hospital units.
Following reports of poor standards of care, these units were closed and long-term care was provided in the private sector. The problem was transferred, not solved.
Following the recent sad reports, we hear that some staff have been arrested, some have been dismissed and yet others transferred.
The next step may well be to look after as many people as possible in their own homes and not rely on the NHS or private sector.
But we are told that the size of the workforce is diminishing and that there will not be enough professional carers to provide such a domiciliary service, so maybe we’ll go back to long-stay hospital units and try again!
What is needed is appropriate selection, training and re-training of staff not dismissal and transfer.
They should be supported by clinical leadership at ward level, hospital level and care home level, with appropriate accountability.
The Care Commission should adopt a more active advisory role.
Geriatric Medicine is almost 60 years old caring for people with learning disabilities may be older yet we still haven’t got it right.
(Dr) C. Cohen.Age Concern,Angus.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.