YP Letters: Alternative that could help ease pressure on A&E services

THE news continues to be full of woe regarding NHS waiting times, especially at A&E, but there is at least one alternative.

I recently fell at home and suffered facial injuries which seemed to require stitches and I really did not fancy a four hour plus wait in A&E.

My wife phoned our GP but they did not do stitches, so she drove me to the nearest Minor Injuries Clinic at Wharfedale Hospital, Otley.

The total time taken home to home, including very efficient treatment at the clinic, was much less than two hours, including over one hour’s travel.

We were at the clinic for such a short time that the parking charge did not apply and the only NHS staff involved were a receptionist and two efficient young nurses.

A very cost effective usage of the NHS, I would suggest. This service was not advertised, we found reference of it on the internet and our surgery did not refer us. Surely, these services should be brought to everyone’s attention to alleviate the pressure on other NHS services?

From: Dr Mark Porter, Chairman, British Medical Association.

THE Government is wilfully ignoring the scale of the crisis in our NHS. Trying to play down the pressure that services are under shows the Prime Minister is out of touch with patients and frontline staff who are working flat out under impossible circumstances.

Winter pressures are inevitable, but we should be able to create a Health Service that can deal with the inevitable. To do this we need a Government that takes the issue seriously, that addresses the funding, capacity and recruitment issues facing the NHS and social care year in, year out, but which are compounded during the winter months.

From: David Cowling, Chapel St Leonards, Skegness.

WHAT is the outcry over the state of the NHS?

As a nation, we would rather give £145.50 per year, raising £3.7bn from all sources, to the BBC. By law, we have to pay the fee which is sanctioned by the Government. Now hands up all those who would rather prop up a self-regulated, biased, television channel or pay £145.50 per year to an institution that saves lives? The £3.7bn would clear the existing NHS deficit of £2.45bn.

The NHS was designed for a population of 45 million in 1948, not the 65 million population of today. Would you rather die or let the BBC create another bunch of Z list celebrities? Unfortunately not your choice.