WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter
Waiting for Improvement
Dear HIP,
On a recent evening my wife had a fall and I drove her to A&E at the Conquest Hospital. The time taken for triage, consultation, a CT scan and, finally, admission to the surgical assessment ward was 12 hours. My wife is nearly 80 years of age, has Parkinson’s disease and is frail. The experience of waiting for that long in an uncomfortable, noisy, very bright, crowded, hot and not very clean room was, in itself, a hazard to health.
That said, all the staff we met – triage, doctor, radiographer, nurses – were efficient, courteous, kindly and very hard working. I saw no evidence of wastage or time-wasting.
The wait gave me the opportunity to talk to a number of other outpatients. I would guess that only a third required emergency treatment. Time and again I heard the same story: they had tried to arrange an appointment with their GP, none was available, they were referred to the 111 NHS helpline and, in turn, advised to attend A&E.
I have travelled a good deal in Europe, have friends who live there, and my experience is that healthcare in neighbouring countries is far better. I now spend time in retirement volunteering locally. This role gives me the chance to meet many international visitors, but I am often embarrassed by their own bewildered observations of our deteriorating local environment: an outdated infrastructure; poor quality yet expensive public transport, especially train; traffic-crowded and poorly surfaced roads, and a near total absence of cycle lanes – unlike Holland, and Germany. They are also aware of the visible local poverty with boarded-up shops and rough sleeping.
I blame our Government for robbing essential services – health, education, transport – of the support, encouragement and systemic structure they need to be vital and productive. On the other hand, those who give so little to public service seem over-rewarded, ‘honoured’, and free from responsible accountability.
Now, almost 80, having worked hard all my life and with some knowledge of public services, I have never seen things as bad as they are. How can our government have allowed this appalling situation to develop?
I have written more in sorrow than anger, to my local MP Huw Merriman. He has not earned and will not receive my vote; but then I have little faith in the official opposition. I should like a reply to my letter but anticipate it will merely parade the familiarly fatuous spending figures and a declared commitment to the health service, which, after my wife’s very difficult experience and that of others I talk to, can only sound hollow.
Name and address supplied.
Letter
Embarrassing Council
Dear HIP,
What a great, but at the same time shocking, article you published by Elspeth Tiddlypush (The Chamber of Horrors in HIP 246).
Hastings and St Leonards has a great and proud history and, even now, some of that history is reflected in our beautiful town. The fact that our Council chooses to meet in one of the worst buildings in the town, ridiculously called Muriel Matters House, in a room lacking in any charm and clearly not fit for purpose, says it all.
Where is the leadership, where is the flair? It is little wonder much of the money flowing into the town is bypassing the Council and ending up with bodies such as Hastings Commons – an organisation itself facing questions around accountability, it would appear.
I trust our councillors will read and reflect on Elspeth Tiddlypush’s piece. Hastings has more than its fair share of issues. Where the Council meets is not high on that list but it is a symptom. One of Elspeth’s bleak conclusions is: “If this is our local democracy in action, it is embarrassing.” The sad truth is that the decisions emanating out of the Council seem equally embarrassing. The Council needs to step up and embrace its leadership role. It could start by publishing a new Statutory Plan.
Graham Seaton
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