A&E waiting times are in the news, the worst performance in since records have been kept, and Dr Sandesh Gulhane of the Scottish Conservatives is shocked. Douglas Ross uses the cases at the extreme to criticise the average. Poor show, when Therese Coffey is hinting at removing the measurement in England and Wales.
The causes are known. One health professional in a text to a radio phone-in characterised the problem very interestingly.
Imagine that the health service is a human being called Angus. Patients are the food that Angus processes. View the A&E waiting times as the delay or inability of Angus to eat the amount of food placed in front of him in any day/week/month.
It we try to stuff Angus with more food, when he is already full, it will result in Angus breaking.
If Angus’s capacity were increased, that would help.
However, Angus was forced to go through an unnecessary procedure in 2020 where he was fitted with a gastric band, limiting his appetite.
This was the Hard Brexit “band” where foreign health professionals took the hint and went home or to other countries to work where they are also needed.
Could we increase Angus’s eating capacity? Yes, by hiring more staff, but the Toxic Brexit Britain stench still lingers, so why would they come back and do what they do best?
But the problem doesn’t end there. Angus is constipated – he can’t get the food out when it has been processed. Similarly, social care in the community cannot receive the patients “processed” and ready for return to their homes, and once more the toxicity of Brexit has caused a similar staff exodus, slowing the release, and they are now lower-paid than when they arrived before Brexit.
If Angus’s capacity were increased, that would help?
Yes, however, Angus was exposed to a flu-like virus and he couldn’t eat as much as he normally used to pre-2019, over the last two-and-a-half years.
All of that food didn’t go away, it just piled up waiting for Angus to eat it when he got better.
Radical action is required. Let’s help increase the social care in the community flow rate and unblock the system. Angus will and must survive, and A&E times will reduce.
Alistair Ballantyne
Birkhill, Angus
LIKE many people, I was very concerned to read the latest Brexiteer proposals to scrap EU legislation and degrade our standards and laws, even in devolved areas.
If we cannot resist this by legislation, another solution is for the Scottish Government to set up a Scottish Standard, rather like the Kitemark or the Living Wage. It would be written to equal (or sometimes exceed) existing EU standards. For food standards, workers’ rights and so on, it would initially be a matter of copying and pasting the provisions we already have. It would be voluntary, but would separate producers and employers following the Standard from those who were not.
When we regain our self-government, it would also be quite simple to legislate to require the Standard to be followed in all relevant areas.
Robert Fraser
Edinburgh
I’VE just read the article in The National “Goodwin charged for “cheat” jibes” (Sep 23). Well, good luck with that Jim Goodwin. You’ve absolutely no chance when it comes to defending yourself against the SFA.
Yes, there are “rules of the game” that all clubs are expected to operate under, but those rules are very selectively applied. There is no rhyme or reason other than if the SFA want to flex their muscle they’ll pick someone, usually not from one of their favoured teams, and throw the book at them.
There’s a list as long as my arm of clubs needing charged by the SFA that they could and SHOULD act on, some so serious that the clubs in question should be barred from ever operating in Scotland again. But, somehow, some of those clubs wield significant power on these SFA committees and the loss of revenue is more important than the moral stance they should enforce.
Specifically, time will tell when the inquest into child abuse in Scotland ends whether the numerous clubs who allowed (knowingly, in some cases) their employees to abuse young boys will be charged and kicked out of Scottish football.
Jim Todd
Cumbernauld
WHAT is the problem with the National Trust of Scotland – do they have too many member and are they deliberately encouraging people not to support them? I only ask as they clearly never learned from having uber-Unionist Neil Oliver as their past president and have now replaced him by Jackie Bird. Her career at BBC Scotland involved twisting every story into an SNP hate-fest. Will there ever be a chance of the NTS actually putting forward someone who supports Scotland and its heritage? I doubt it. Well done on alienating the vast majority of the Scottish public.
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here