An advertisement in the local community magazine which we received recently made me see red. This was publicity for a private, profit-making enterprise, offering GP services and designed to take advantage of the difficult position in which we find our National Health Service.
What has been allowed to happen to our general medical practices? Our family doctor stitched my hand when I nearly severed the end of my thumb with a knife. A different GP performed a haemorrhoidectomy for me in his surgery. Another GP successfully removed an outcrop of warts from my back in his surgery. In the same practice I have been successfully treated for prostate problems. Home visits from the doctor were not unusual.
It used to be standard practice for registered patients to attend the surgery if they felt unwell or wanted medical advice. People simply told the receptionist their name and sat in the waiting room until the doctor could see them. Doctors regarded themselves with pride as public servants. When I was in the Air Force a similar process was adopted: if you felt unwell, you reported sick and you took your turn in the waiting room to see the Medical Officer.
Now it seems that a brick wall has been erected so that you cannot see the doctor without an elaborate and personal interrogation by a desk clerk who not only wants you to make an appointment but seems to want to know if you merit an appointment. The patient wants to see the doctor now, not next week. It seems that many doctors now work part-time and once you pass the interrogation if you have the temerity to ask to see a particular practitioner a date in the distant future is suggested. Covid seems to be the excuse for every failing. On my repeat prescription slip my usual doctor is named. I do not recall ever having met the person named.
The National Health Service is a vital organisation for the public and it has difficulties that must be overcome. Privatisation, where consultants and doctors are paid by the NHS but permitted to enter into private practice, simply weakens the service. The vast majority of the public simply cannot afford fees amounting to many thousands of pounds to have operations performed, sometimes in less up-to-date theatres than in hospital, by the very same surgeons who are on the NHS payroll.
Peter D Christie, Newton Mearns.
Read more letters
- Does Glasgow want to attract tourists? It doesn't look like it
- Forget nostalgia. It makes no economic sense to restore rural railways
Lack of civic pride in Glasgow
I agree with John Thomson (Letters, March 5) on the poor level of public transport in Glasgow.
He mentions the Subway, pointing out the new carriages which for some reason do "shoogle" and sway excessively, and do not have interior visual displays telling passengers the next station, instead expecting them to rely on often-mumbled and unclear announcements. Having in excess of £28 million spent on modernising the Subway passengers now have to put up with a less frequent service on trains which provide a worse journey experience than the previous "Clockwork Orange" on a system which closes before 11pm and at 6pm on a Sunday.
Another issue which shames Glasgow and makes a mockery of any claim to be a visitor destination is the lack of any form of integrated ticketing which would make travelling in and out of and around our city easier and more affordable for all and would surely provide a much-needed increase in city centre footfall, which the council's own figures show has fallen significantly. Indeed many from the world of commerce, retail and hospitality have spoken out recently on the negative effect Glasgow's expensive, unreliable and disjointed public transport has on the economy and vibrancy of the city centre.
It was sad to read the comments of Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken when she said: "There's been some exaggeration about the challenges of getting in and out of Glasgow and that's putting it mildly" (“'Edinburgh’s festival is lovely but Glasgow is Scotland’s cultural heart all year round’”, The Herald, February 25). While it is good that Ms Aitken accepts that there are "challenges" involved in getting in and out of Glasgow it is her myopic inability to see and acknowledge problems which others can see plainly that sums up the lack of civic pride and leadership that Glasgow needs. The inability to confront the many issues which blight our city perhaps explains why the city of my birth now stands as a pale and grubby shadow of its former self.
William Gold, Glasgow.
Trust the process on rail extension
John Munro’s letter (March 6) on the mooted extension to the Borders Railway misses the point.
Both the Westminster and Scottish governments have accepted that there is a real issue of poor connectivity affecting a large area and many communities, on both sides of the Border, not just Hawick. The feasibility study will properly research potential solutions and the varying economic, social and environmental benefits they would produce. This is not backward-looking nostalgia. Rather it is about creating economic growth and a better future for the Borders. Politicians do have to make difficult funding decisions and for this they need reliable information. The feasibility study will evaluate and rank options, so that politicians can make informed choices.
The success of the existing Borders Railway from Edinburgh to Galashiels and Tweedbank, where patronage has dramatically exceeded forecasts, demonstrates that it can make sense to extend the rail network to rural towns. We should trust the process and see what the feasibility study produces.
Peter Heubeck, Technical Advisor, The Campaign for Borders Rail, York.
So much for BP's green credentials
I read with dismay that BP has scrapped its plan to build a hydrogen plant in Teeside ("BP scraps green hydrogen plan", The Herald, March 6). Toyota must be furious as this will have a major impact on its hydrogen car-making plans.
Hydrogen-powered cars are the way forward, although BP obviously doesn’t think so, it is just happy to “drill, baby, drill”.
BP’s logo, which was redesigned to reflect its green credentials, is a joke along with its reputation.
Alan Melville, Glasgow.
Passport puzzle
Recent correspondents have referred to personal experiences of people from the United States to comment on their insularity (Letters, March 4, 6 & 7). In the days when it was necessary to produce a passport to cash travellers cheques I was often struck by Americans who were fascinated by passports, having never possessed one themselves. I recall one young waiter declaring it was an ambition to have one. It is sad that many US citizens may have little direct experience of other countries and cultures.
Brian Harvey, Hamilton.
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