Letters: Our NHS will never be properly funded while we are tied to Tory rule

Scotland needs to educate and train more medical staff in all grades and positions and it needs to fund the NHS properly. That will never happen while we are tied to a Westminster Government intent on privatising medical care.

David J Crawford, Glasgow.

SNP HAS TAKEN EYE OFF THE BALL

EXCESS deaths – a phrase that should put the fear of God into each and every one of us. This relates to the number above the average taken over a similar period in previous years. Scotland is sitting at 30% higher than pre-Covid. At a time when deaths relating to Covid are reducing, this is a giant wake-up call of the impact of the NHS effectively shutting its doors and not seeing patients and not carrying out routine scanning. These deaths are from the likes of cancer and heart disease, many of which would have been treatable and even possibly curable if dealt with earlier.

And this will just be the tip of the iceberg. How many more people will die due to missed opportunities and cancellation of appointments? How many other people are living restricted lives with pain and discomfort? I am sure that Humza Yousaf will reach for the Covid excuse but there is no excuse for our hospitals, and more importantly our GP practices, not now being open and seeing patients.

Heart issues and cancer can’t be diagnosed over the phone. GPs need to be told by the Government to open their doors and get back to doing what they are paid to do. How many more will die from preventable and treatable conditions in the years to come because the SNP took its eye off the ball when it comes to our NHS?

Jane Lax, Aberlour.

NIKE OUTBREAK WAS HANDLED WELL

RICHARD Allison (Letters, October 14) has not been paying attention if he doesn’t know that Scotland’s Covid response has been much better than in England or Wales. Scotland was unable to lockdown before the UK, or extend it when needed, as we did not have the necessary control of our borders or borrowing powers and an independent Scotland could have done so, thus saving thousands of lives.

It seems only one delegate from Scotland actually contracted Covid as a result of attending the Nike conference. Details were immediately reported to the UK and Northern Ireland governments in respect of their delegates and they too chose not go public and possibly identify the patients involved.

An investigation into the Nike conference Covid outbreak was held and on March 20, 2020 the Chief Medical Officer reported that "the Incident Management Team were successful in curtailing spread and led to the eradication of the particular viral lineage with no evidence of any wider outbreak associated with it in Scotland since that time".

The Scottish Government is the first in the UK to hold a public inquiry and no doubt the Nike conference outbreak will be considered together with much larger issues later this year.

Fraser Grant, Edinburgh.

STURGEON GETTING ON WITH THE JOB

WISHFUL thinking was the phrase that came to mind as I read Tom Gordon’s article ("Yes, Sturgeon’s knackered. No, time is not on her side", The Herald, October 14). The notion that Nicola Sturgeon would exit the political scene would no doubt have some backers, including Alex Cole-Hamilton as mentioned; however those sentiments regarding one of the most influential political leaders in Europe are falling on deaf ears and rightly so. It is easy for Mr Cole-Hamilton to sit with his rump of four MSPs taking political pops at the FM while he is far from ever filling her shoes.

Mr Gordon’s observation that the FM is looking "knackered" may be as a result of getting on with the day job during the last two months of being at the helm during the global pandemic, during Westminster and Holyrood elections and making decisions that affect every aspect of our daily lives. Mr Gordon suggests that the 2021 Holyrood election has resulted in "nothing new, nothing happening, feels as if things have regressed". Not from where I sit. Major decisions have been taken, including the roll-out of Covid vaccinations for 12-15-year-olds; three fast-track cancer centres opened in Ayrshire & Arran, Fife and Dumfries; increases in the Carers Supplement, £10m funding set aside to restore nature and improve biodiversity, widening availability to free school meals and permanent abolition of hospital car parking just to mention a few.

There is also the new deal with the Greens coming into government for the first time anywhere in the UK, surely a clear demonstration that things are moving on.

Ms Sturgeon is getting on with the day job of running the country and I am sure has no plans to take on board the sentiments in Mr Gordon’s article.

Catriona C Clark, Falkirk.

GIVING UP ON FREE MOVEMENT

TAVISH Scott ("Our most successful food export is being squeezed like never before", The Herald, October 14) gives us an eloquent and unambiguous explanation of the staffing problems which are besetting Scottish salmon producers. I understand and sympathise with his analysis of the situation but have to differ with him on one key issue. While attributing much of the trouble to Brexit, he cannot discard his LibDem heritage and, like Ed Davey, has clearly decided to accept that the Brexit ship has sailed, unlike his predecessor and wannabe PM Jo Swinson, who was intent on sinking HMS Brexit.

Surely Mr Scott and many others must know in their hearts that temporary visas, granted as a necessary evil, are a poor substitute for freedom of movement under which our European friends were made to feel welcome within our nation.

Willie Maclean, Milngavie.

CALL THIS A REAL DEMOCRACY?

MY daughter is in S2 and, literally this week, she was asked to write an essay for her modern studies class, comparing North Korea and Scotland, specifically comparing democracies (good) with dictatorships (bad). In her essay, she wrote the following:

"North Korea holds elections, but they don't mean anything... the same party stays in power. In Scotland you could say it is a much fairer system, a real democracy, where peoples votes actually mean something although our electoral system means that who you vote for doesn't [always] get in."

Apart from the punctuation, I thought she had done pretty well... until I read that Michael Offord had taken his seat in the House of Lords. How should I explain this version of "democracy" to my daughter?

Let's be clear. Mr Offord stood as a candidate in the Holyrood general election. He did not secure enough votes to win a seat. In a real democracy, he has no right to sit in power. And yet, there he is, making laws – for the rest of his life. But Ian Lang, Michael Forsyth, Annabel Goldie, Ian Duncan, James Younger – Conservatives all – also sit in the House of Lords. Maybe, like North Korea, Scotland's votes don't mean anything, and the same party does stay in power.

Although so much of politics in Scotland is seen through the constitutional prism, I hope that all of The Herald's readers can agree that this shabby promotion of the unelected/cash-for-honours chumocracy has to end – as soon as possible.

How else do I and countless other parents look their children in the eye and honestly tell them that North Korea is a "bad" dictatorship and that Scotland/UK – whatever you want to call the state we live in – is a "real" democracy?

David Patrick, Edinburgh.

TIME TO RETHINK HOLYROOD

AFTER 20 years of our part-time Holyrood Parliament questions are being raised regarding standards of life in Scotland and the value for money that Holyrood represents.

In considering essential services in Scotland the standards have dropped dramatically in the following ways:

• NHS waiting lists are now the worst they have ever been and it is almost impossible to see a doctor. Drug deaths are the worst in Europe.

• Scottish education has slipped down the performance tables.

• Train and ferry services are in turmoil.

• The Scottish economy is dragging behind the rest of the UK.

It is time for a top-level evaluation of Holyrood to consider its cost-effectiveness and its very future.

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.

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