YEP Letters: January 17

Clock ‘left to go to rack and ruin’

Eileen Heaney, by email

every time I pass Seacroft Hospital clock I feel very sad that the clock appears to have been left to go to rack and ruin.

It is such an iconic feature as people come into Leeds on the A64. I understood that when all the wards closed at Seacroft Hospital the clock was going to be maintained and kept going, are there any plans to do this?

My grandma lives near Seacroft Hospital and we always looked at the clock when we were children, it is a shame that the clock has been neglected.

Does anyone else have memories of Seacroft Hospital clock?

Start fixing the NHS before it falls apart

Dr Glyn Powell, Kellington

Having spent over four weeks in various West Yorkshire hospitals, I feel I must comment on the state of the NHS.

The frontline staff from Registrars/Consultant all the way down to ancilliary staff do excellent work and are totally committed and dedicated to looking after their patents, despite major problems thrown at them by misguided government policies.

To improve the situation government should:

1. Set up incentivised training schemes for British youngsters in all the aforementioned professions to reduce the need to employ foreign/EU workers.

2. Trigger Article 50 to withdraw immediately from the EU to stop NHS meagre resources being totally overwhelmed by uncontrolled immigration from eastern EU states. These, not an ageing population are the real causes of NHS difficulties.

To Jeremy Hunt, who seems to think it’s ok to lie about the state of the NHS, I would say that, after waiting in Pinderfields A&E in a critical condition for 15 hours or a bed on a surgical ward and seeing dedicated staff pushed to the limit, working long hours; stop lying Mr Hunt.

Tell the truth to the nation and start to fix the NHS, instead of waiting until it falls apart so it can be easier privatised.

Alternative to using A&E

Malcolm Smith, Scarcroft

THE news continues to be full of woe regarding NHS waiting times, especially at A&E, but there is at least one alternative.

I recently fell at home and suffered facial injuries which seemed to require stitches and I really did not fancy a four hour plus wait in A&E.

My wife phoned our GP but they did not do stitches, so she drove me to the nearest Minor Injuries Clinic at Wharfedale Hospital, Otley.

The total time taken home to home, including very efficient treatment at the clinic, was much less than two hours, including over one hour’s travel.

We were at the clinic for such a short time that the parking charge did not apply and the only NHS staff involved were a receptionist and two efficient young nurses.

A very cost effective usage of the NHS, I would suggest. This service was not advertised, we found reference of it on the internet and our surgery did not refer us. Surely, these services should be brought to everyone’s attention to alleviate the pressure on other NHS services?

Sooner we leave EU the better

M Meeson, Leeds

In reply to John Cole, (Yorkshire Evening Post, January 13) a 12 million majority vote in the referendum decided we should leave the EU and that this result would free the UK of the vast amount we pay in to the EU coffers and that it could be used to fund the NHS (which by the way was in financial stress long before a referendum was made). What John Cole fails to realise is that we have not yet left the EU so the money we would eventually save to help the NHS is not yet available.

As regards a second referendum, if that did not appease him we could then have a third referendum and so on. Get used to it, we are leaving the EU and the sooner the better.

We need less bureaucracy

B Duffy, by email

I totally disagree with the letter from M McGowan in the YEP January 13 regarding a Yorkshire Mayor.

This would be another layer of bureaucracy, with fat cat salaries and pensions, requiring grand offices and lots of non-accountable staff. It would also produce a Labour majority every time with cities like Leeds, Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Wakefield. If a donkey stood for Labour in these cities, it would be elected.

We need to get away from bureaucracy, that was what people voted for with Brexit.

They are fed up with politicians not representing their constituents views. Local government has become a disaster since the amalgamations of 1974.

Council leaders paying themselves more than the Prime Minister and the councillors doing nicely with their salaries and expenses and not paying council tax! It’s time we went back to the local councillor doing the job for civic pride and the good of the community, receiving out of pocket expenses.

Look at the shambles that Leeds has become,even though they bleed all the former surrounding boroughs of money. Aireborough, Horsforth, Pudsey, Morley and Wetherby were all much better served, with much lower rates, than they pay to Leeds now.

The people have spoken, Michael, they want less governance not more political pygmies. Oh, for another Mrs Thatcher or a Trump!

Council’s dog barking failure

S Kavanagh, Morley

Leeds City Council’s (LCC) Anti Social Behaviour Team (ASBT) saw fit to write to me at the end of November regarding a nuisance barking dog at our address as, quote, “reports from local residents (plural) about noise arising from a barking dog at your premises”.

I took exception at receiving such a letter without LCC’s ASBT department, responsible for issuing the letter, not having undertaken some form of verification of the allegation, especially as our last dog, a lovely friendly non-barking Labrador, passed away in 1997.

Since 1997 no dogs have lived at our address, and this fact formed part of my response to the letter from the ASBT.

Before issuing such a letter, LCC’s department should verify such reports as it is easy for allegations to be made, irrespective of the number of so called reports they receive. It could be upsetting for some to receive such letters.

I laughed, so did our close neighbours / friends, who are more than aware of our dog situation.

It is unacceptable for LCC’s department to simply brush to one side an incorrect allegation because they rely on the accuracy of a report from others.

They should verify the allegation by undertaking a simple investigation prior to despatching letters. They finally outlined the situation when “I chased a response” to my initial emailed reply. Yes, I waited and waited for a response and finally received an email on January 4 (after my chase) which included a polite apology and explanation outlining the error of their complainant.

Their email also mentioned the complainant (singular) had been advised that there was no dog at our address and indicating they had requested the complainant check the offending address.

LCC need to be more pro-active to ensure they get their facts correct at the outset before they offend residents, as unsolicited letters being despatched from the ASBT could result from malice, neighbouring differences or squabbles though, thankfully, not in this case. Yet another failure of Leeds City Council, though not surprising.

Pavements need repairing

Mr and Mrs J Lewington, Leeds

WHEN will Leeds City Council repair all the loose pavements in the city centre?

The worst area is just outside the St John’s Centre. Outside Subway, my husband had a nasty fall on loose flags just before Christmas; fortunately he was not badly hurt, but at 69 years old it shook him up for a few days. The loose flags are on both sides of Albion Street and on the corner with the Headrow, in fact all over the city centre.