Dangers of delays in seeing doctors

YOU reported (Yorkshire Post, March 18) that hundreds of thousands of people have been unable to book doctor’s appointments because of lack of availability or because they struggle to get through to their surgery on the phone.

I agree that this is a big problem in our region and have found it to be a common issue at my own doctor’s surgery.

At best, the surgery has been able to offer me appointments within four or five days, but there have been occasions when I’ve had to wait a couple of weeks.

As a student, I can be fairly flexible with my appointment times but for those in full time employment the current system must be frustrating and inconvenient.

If something isn’t done to improve the appointment booking process, I believe it could be very dangerous because it could discourage people from going to their doctor with problems that may turn out to be serious.

The fact that patient satisfaction varies so dramatically in different areas of Yorkshire suggests to me that GP surgeries should be speaking to each other and sharing best practice.

From: Andrew Gentles, Hollins Crescent, Harrogate.

I AM glad to read (Yorkshire Post, March 17) that, as two months ago, your leading article and front page draw attention to possible problems that the Government’s NHS policy may produce: a real leap in the dark the trademark of politicians of all colours.

My recent experience of the impacts of cutbacks came as an unpleasant and unique surprise. The Harrogate District Hospital now has a voice activated automated phone system. I have made five calls, but none got through. One was to try to make an appointment for a test requested by my GP, whose letter even gave me the phone extension number. Another was to try to find out the ward to which a seriously ill friend had been admitted. For me this was a double whammy, as for 26 years I was a whole time consultant eye surgeon at the hospital, and since retirement have been an in and out-patient, and frequently a visitor.

As the system did not seem to work, I wrote to the CEO. The reply I got was a phone call from a staff member who said the system being used was to save money, and a change was not contemplated. I would say that the system is not fit for purpose.

So I am apprehensive as to what else may be in store, not only in Yorkshire, but throughout the country.

From: ME Wright, Grove Road, Harrogate.

OF the many things which continue to raise Britain head and shoulders above America, isn’t our health service top of the list? Why then, does the “listening” coalition propose to offer the NHS up as carrion to American-style health care vultures? Right across the political spectrum, the public response ranges from dismay to outrage.

Given their remote and gilded backgrounds, perhaps it is unreasonable to expect Mr Cameron and his public school oligarchs to understand the point of view of the other ninety percent of the nation.

That said, they may wish to consider the effect which this might have on the future election prospects of the Conservative and Lib Dem parties.

Blight of the litter louts

From: Matthew Shaw, Golcar, Huddersfield.

LIVING on our crowded little island, it only takes a small proportion of its population to create an awful lot of it litter – a social ill which causes no end of frustration because there is no reason for it.

No matter where you drive, our hedgerows and roadside verges appear permanently festooned with litter because of the appalling habit of morons who toss rubbish from their vehicles.

Similarly, our railway lines have become corridors of litter. Beauty spots, parks, gardens, high streets or beaches, even mountain summits, all marked by the litterer. Blame the parents, blame the fly tippers, blame the children, blame the drunks (drunk children?), blame lazy ignorant people, blame the government, blame food manufacturers, blame our rich over-fed society, blame whoever you like, the litter is everywhere.

We tend to hold our local authorities responsible for cleaning up after those who toss litter and spend billions in the process – a never-ending and futile process.

During these mean times, providing this service should be suspended forthwith. Eventually, wallowing waist deep in a sea of litter, Cameron’s Big Society ideals could mobilise communities to keep their own neighbourhoods clean. Litter louts would be identified, named, shamed and asked to live on another planet.

Pay packet is beyond belief

From: Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon, Shipley.

ASK anyone in this region which town or city is in the biggest mess, and is also possibly a laughing stock throughout the whole country, and more often than not the answer given will be Bradford.

What then are we to make of the report (Yorkshire Post, March 17) that informed us that Bradford Council’s Tony Reeves was the biggest earning chief executive in the region. It really is beyond belief. Here we have a man who has helped to preside over the shambles that Bradford has become, who is one of those who has taken so little account of what the residents of our city actually want, and yet who appears to carry on regardless earning a very substantial sum whilst cuts abound all around him.

That Bradford is in such a shambolic state, and yet its leaders continue to feed so well from the public trough, really is rather distasteful.

The people of Bradford deserve much better. We are currently not being at all well served by such people, although I suspect that they do not really care one jot, just as long as that massive monthly pay cheque keeps on coming! How on earth can Bradford Council justify this largesse when one considers the current state of the city?