YEP Letters November 7

Social care cash amount ‘a let-down’

Judith King, Alzheimer’s Society Operations Manager Head of Region

readers may have heard recently of the £240m of extra money being allocated to the social care system to ease pressure on the NHS this winter.

We now know this will mean that £7.7 million will be made available in West Yorkshire.

While it’s important that the Government has recognised that social care underfunding lies at the heart of our hospitals’ winter pressures, the amount committed is a let-down – less than 10 per cent of what’s needed to fix the social care crisis now. The social care system is ‘not just for Christmas’ and people with dementia, as its biggest recipients, are experiencing the emotional and economic cost all year round.

To actually turn the tide for the more than 25,500 people with dementia in West Yorkshire we need to plug the current funding gap and offer them the chance to access the good quality social care they have a right to.

ACPs are much more than ‘just nurses’

Benjamin Huntly, Normanton

I write in reply to Duncan Long’s letter (‘No substitute for a fully-trained doctor’ YEP October 10).I am a trainee advanced nurse practitioner.

Advanced Clinical Practitioners to give the correct term are a group of professionals from many backgrounds including nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists and pharmacists. This list is not exclusive.

We are practitioners that have a number of years experience in the relevant field and are now working at an advanced level. To become an ACP you have to complete a three year masters degree on top of the professional degree and experience you already have.

As an ACP we provide the bulk of the medical led care to patients in a time of reducing numbers of doctors, a reduction in both hours and wages for doctors.

I would also like to add that we are not cheap doctors as we actually cost more in the long run.

As to having no qualification, I would like to believe that the two degrees I have, the studying I have done on clinical assessment and treatment and the anatomy and physiology that backs this, qualifies me to work in this area.

I am not a mock doctor and I do not want to be a doctor. I am a nurse, I am proud of being a nurse. When working on the wards as “just a nurse” I have often stopped doctors from making errors with prescriptions that were not in the best interests of the patients.

I have fought for my patients with the consultants and medical teams. I have woken senior managers from sleep in the middle of the night to attend unwell patients.

I have recently seen a quote, so I won’t claim this as my own, but it reads: “For the 23 hours and 55 minutes the doctor is not at your bedside it is the nurse that will save your life”.

The next time I am unwell I hope there is an advanced clinical practitioner with experience near me and not a doctor who has just walked out of medical school.

More questions than answers

Ernest Lundy, by email

Opening a few points for discussion: Government says it would like to be able to raise the basic living wage up to £9 an hour, £10 for those living in London.

The problem is, would so doing create problems for small employers and result in price rises and staff being laid-off? Prices seem to be rising daily anyway. Closely connected is one of the lowest rates of pension in Europe received by our OAPs. Looking for an explanation we find that pensions in other countries are based on percentage of average earnings, so we are losing out there as well. But this doesn’t answer the question or offer an alternative explanation. Therefore, on the face of it, much as we need it, a raise in the basic living wage will likely produce even more questions than answers.

Great men deserve a star

Norman Hazell, Sandal

I read with interest a recent letter suggesting that to the parade of Wakefield Stars in the city centre, one should be allocated to the great Eastmoor man, Albert Rayner. I am sure no one would object to that, for Albert, only small, was famous far beyond the city boundary for his work in boxing, rugby league and as holder of world records for his work with a skipping rope. He was a great man.

However, reading that letter set me thinking and I am sure another ought to be allocated to Derek Turner, from Alverthorpe. Not only captain of Wakefield Trinity in the great seasons, early in the 60s, but a fine Test player, chosen to skipper the Great Britain Test team.

That’s two stars I would plead for, for two genuine local men.

Buses for profit not convenience

Jim Smith, Whitkirk

It is great to see the new Leeds city buses in their new livery, of two tone green. It’s been a long time coming.

It reminds me of when the council ran the buses. Those were the days, buses ten a penny, and full. It’s a great pity that they are now run for profit and not for the convenience of the Leeds Loiners.

Donate used stamps for Guide Dogs

Myrna Chave, by email

I am appealing for used postage stamps which help me raise funds which I then donate to the Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Recycling used postage stamps is such an easy way to raise money for the charity and I am always in need of all types of postage stamps, including British, Foreign and Christmas stamps.

If you are able to help I would be grateful if you could cut the stamps from their envelopes (leaving approx 1cm margin around the stamp) and send them to: Myrna Chave, PO Box 91, Virginia Water, Surrey GU25 9AR.

If you would like to contact me my email address is [email protected]

Your assistance in helping me to support this very worthy cause is greatly appreciated.

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