GP surgeries are full of people who needn’t be there and A&E of people often too lazy to wait for a booking at a GP (“The NHS cannot carry on as it is”, News). So let’s give people a choice and make them accountable. Fines could be imposed on those who abuse the system, so that turning up at A&E with a cough or stubbed toe would bring a charge of, say, £50. Pay first, treatment second. Yes, this is harsh, but let’s think about the people who really need the treatment and not those abusing the system.
GP appointments would cost £10 (means-tested) so that the genuinely poor wouldn’t have to pay. Routine painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen would not be prescribed.
People need to take responsibility for their health. A&E is full of people too drunk to stand and they have probably got there by ambulance. If you drink to excess, you made the choice, so don’t expect the taxpayer to cover your medical bills. Those who really do need an urgent service can then get it in a timely fashion.
Pete O’Keeffe
Faversham
Help to turn the tide
In order to spread the cost of the proposed tidal lagoon (“Two cheers for the tidal lagoon”, In Focus), wouldn’t it make an ideal site for a wind farm, with the wind turbines set at appropriate distances around the barrier? In addition, given the shortage of building space in the UK, it would be an opportunity to incorporate a mixture of low-cost, luxury and first-time-buyer residences into the barrier. Adding both suggestions, at the design stage, would spread the costs, improve the return on investment and make it easier to raise the capital, yet would add a relatively small extra cost to the large amount of capital needed for the project.
Mike Scott
Northall, Bucks
Brexit spinning goes on and on
I was disappointed to read the headline “Voters back Tories for best Brexit deal by three to one” (News) and then to find within the content of the report that 36% of those polled either did not know or did not trust any party to deliver an effective Brexit deal.
Surely the more significant figure to report as a headline should have been the 36%, which was over a third of those polled, and more than those who said they trusted the Tory party. In my view, this is indicative of the lack of clarity regarding the Brexit process and the mistrust felt towards those responsible for delivering it.
It is not really much of a surprise that the Tories polled higher than Labour in the current political climate and to have focused on that particular outcome in the headline appears to have given it a spin that one would normally expect from the rightwing press.
Susan Martin
West Bridgford
Nottinghamshire
Good riddance to politics
Tristram Hunt’s decision to quit politics (“Why Tristram Hunt concluded he had a brighter future in a museum”, Comment) is understandable. As Andrew Rawnsley noted, why should a man of undoubted ability in his 40s want to remain on the opposition benches for the next 10 years (at least)?
And that privilege – or poisoned chalice – would only apply if he got another seat after the existing one is abolished under proposed boundary changes. Things change in politics but Hunt is astute. He follows the opinion polls and knows that at the moment a hard-left party, as Labour is, can only deliver around 25 to 28% of the popular vote.
By my calculations, this would bring in 150 to 160 seats, which would not be enough under the newly constituted Commons of 600 seats. I am assuming the SNP MPs will still be at Westminster post-2020, though a Scottish independence referendum before then could change that.
It would take a massive recession and the Tories to implode for Labour to stand a chance of securing a majority. Hunt, who would have been at home in the SDP 30 years ago, has taken the sensible option.
David Rimmer
Hertford Heath, Herts
Cuts bite in the classroom
It is good to see Unison’s report last week (“Hard Lessons: Support staff struggling to maintain standards for pupils because of cuts”) highlight the damaging effect of the decline in the number of support staff in Scottish schools, especially in relation to those pupils with additional support needs (ASN).
There has been an increase of more than 47% in pupils identified with ASN between 2012 and 2016. Meanwhile, the number of support staff has dramatically decreased, with the number of ASN auxiliaries or care assistants falling by just under 10% and the number of behaviour support staff by just under 15%. Compounding this, the number of ASN teachers has fallen by over 19% between 2012 and 2016, from 2,146 to 1,799, a new low.
While we, like Unison, support the principle of mainstreaming, the resources are simply not there to support pupils with ASN. If we are to close the educational attainment gap, a move desired by all the political parties, we need to ensure that those with ASN are given the support they need to achieve their full potential.
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition
Edinburgh
