Sir, – After decades, during which my closest contact with NHS Scotland involved visits to friends and relatives, I found myself in need of major surgery, and over the last few months, I’ve had contact with the Queen Margaret, Dunfermline, the Victoria, Kirkcaldy, and the Western General and Royal in Edinburgh.
My experience has been most enlightening and has also involved the Ambulance Service and post-operative care from the OT Nurse and a team of district nurses.
All have been excellent.
In Intensive Care, I was made to feel I was the most important patient in the hospital, if not the world!
We are indeed fortunate.
In Kirkcaldy we have the Queen’s Surgeon as a consultant, and in Edinburgh, a brilliant team of young surgeons who regularly perform world class operations.
Throughout my illness I have enjoyed a level of dedication, care and compassion which extended beyond me to my family and is perhaps best described in Hemingway’s phrase as “grace under pressure”.
I also discovered that student nurses in Scotland receive annual grants of £6,000 to see them through a three- year course, whereas our friends down south receive nothing.
An immediate pay rise of 3% was granted whilst I was in hospital, (still not enough), but comparing well with the 6% spread over four years down south.
This is why I find it offensive, if not loathsome, to put up with the savage criticism of NHS Scotland, so often prevalent in the media, and there for for purely political reasons.
Joseph G Miller.
44 Gardeners Street, Dunfermline.
Expand Perth A&E instead
Sir, – I heard recently with dismay that the A&E in Perth Royal Infirmary is to be downgraded.
Perthshire is the largest county and it is the only A&E in the area.
More and more houses are being built, such as Charlotte Gate and Bertha Park, to name a few. Not only does PRI’s A&E serve Perth but also Kinross, Milnathort, Blairgowrie and all the wee villages and towns in Perthshire.
Recently my husband had a bad fall and was taken by ambulance to PRI. If he had been sent to Ninewells the outcome may not have been so favourable, due to the extra distance and time taken. He received excellent care during his stay.
Not only should we be expanding A&E in Perth but how about a helipad? If the downgrading is to save money “they” should forget it and save money in other ways.
Isabel Wardrop.
111 Viewlands Rd West,
Perth.
How to reinstate Dundee flights
Sir, – I may have stumbled upon a solution for Flybe Airways and their problem concerning the poor radar coverage at Dundee Airport, which caused the cancellation of the Dundee to Amsterdam passenger route.
All Flybe have to do is employ the pilots who flew in and out of Dundee Airport during the British Open at Carnoustie.
There are obviously dozens of pilots capable of negotiating the hazardous conditions at Dundee Airport, judging by the amount of aircraft using the facilities over the last week or so.
Or maybe Flybe have been economical with the truth? Or were they pressured by Edinburgh Airport to discontinue?
Either way, their claim of insufficient radar coverage is now questionable, not to mention the fact that the skies around the area are surely clearer now RAF Leuchars is no longer operational.
Incidentally, it would be good to know if Flybe was given any money by Dundee City Council to help start up the Amsterdam route, and if so, did the council tax payers ever receive a refund?
George Kidd.
19 Richmond Terrace,
Dundee.
Two-stage vote over Brexit
Sir, – As Westminster breaks for the summer, leaving the Brexit shambles in its wake, the case for a second EU referendum has never been clearer.
The challenges created when the electorate went to the polls in 2016 can only be resolved by another such vote.
While Leavers oppose a further referendum which, they said, disrespects democracy, the Brexiteers hypocritically had argued for another vote when it looked like Remain would win the 2016 referendum.
A month before the referendum Nigel Farage said that a narrow Remain win would lead to an “unstoppable demand for a rerun” and Jacob Rees-Mogg called for two referendums, the second one to be held after the renegotiations were complete.
They cannot now deny their opponents a right they previously claimed for themselves.
The fear may be the British people have changed their minds, but if so, a referendum would be a recognition of democracy, not a denial of it.
A two-stage referendum, as was held in New Zealand in 1992 on electoral reforms, could help the public choose.
The first stage would ask voters whether they still wished to leave the European Union. If they did not, no second stage would be necessary.
But if they did, a second stage would ask whether voters favoured the deal negotiated by the government, or some alternative form proposed by the Brexiteers.
The outcome would give parliament a clear indication as to how to proceed.
This issue could destroy the current Conservative Government, as it has with a number of previous Tory prime ministers.
The only prime minister to have unequivocally triumphed over Europe is Harold Wilson who, in 1975, faced with a similarly divided party, called a referendum.
The people must now be asked to resolve a dilemma which parliament cannot resolve.
Alex Orr.
Flat 2,
77 Leamington Tce,
Edinburgh.
What about the fit to work?
Sir, – It is a tragedy that crops are rotting because fruit farmers can’t, because of Brexit, employ the workers from EU countries they depend on.
I have no qualms whatsover with people from the EU coming here to work, just as people from the UK go to Europe to work.
But what is wrong is people in our own backyard who sit back, on the dole, while people from other countries who are willing to work do the job.
Now even this is in jeopardy, and if workers from EU countries don’t come to work on the fruit farms, the farmers could go bust.
The Government is to blame.
It was the case those in receipt of Jobseekers allowance had to prove they were looking for work or lose their benefits. But there are those who are fit and able who seem to get away with a life on benefits.
Thomas Brown.
18 Garry Place,
Bankfoot.
Where are our priorities?
Sir, – The “Beast from the East” destroyed thousands of heads of livestock and the farmers had to pay substantial sums to dispose of the carcasses.
The Scottish Government set aside £250,000 for this, but there were 2,930 farmers applying so that averages out at £85 each.
In 2017 the Scottish Foreign Aid budget was £10 million and Nicola Sturgeon pledged to increase this to £12m a year by 2020.
The Scottish Government has just given £300,000 emergency aid to Syria, Yemen and South Sudan/Northern Uganda as part of the SNP £1 million-a-year humanitarian aid fund.
The UK foreign aid budget includes Scotland so why should Scotland give £11 million more whilst Scottish farmers and local councils struggle, and 6,581 children are in temporary accommodation?
Clark Cross.
138 Springfield Road, Linlithgow.