Letters to the editor

Disappointed over hospital claims

I was disappointed to read your front page story in the March 4 edition of the Warwick Courier.

My main disappointment was of course that any relative was concerned about the standards of care at the hospital, but I was further disappointed that this matter was brought to your attention at the same time that it had been brought to mine. As a consequence we have undertaken a full investigation of the concerns which surprisingly had previously not been raised with the ward sister.

At the time of running your story I was unable to comment as the matter had not been investigated. Now having completed the investigation and written to the family I am of course still unable to comment as by doing so in any detail would breach the confidentiality of the patient involved. Patient confidentiality is of the highest importance to everyone that works at the trust and on occasions like this it can put us in a position where we cannot adequately explain the outcome of the investigation.

I am very proud of all of the staff and the care that they deliver to patients day-in, day-out. We expect the highest standards of care in all of our facilities and have a number of mechanisms to help the board to measure this. Each month our board meets in public and examines a number of indicators and measures and reviews patients’ own reports about the care that they receive. Board members also visit wards and departments to see for themselves. A very helpful addition to the assurance process is the national inpatient survey which is undertaken each year and allows us to benchmark patient experience against every other trust in the country. The results from the latest survey will shortly be published and I am very pleased to report that the trust again performed very well. We regularly benchmark as one of the highest quality hospitals, but will never become complacent.

We undertake a third of a million patient contacts each year, so I accept that we will inevitably occasionally get things wrong. Often patient or family reports are not quite what they first appear to be, but each and every one gets our attention as an opportunity to improve.

I would like to thank the staff of the trust for achieving such impressive results in the national survey and for providing such great care to our local population. - Glen Burley, chief executive, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Doctor’s sacking has wasted our money

With reference to the reports that Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital at Walsgrave has sacked heart specialist Dr Raj Mattu, it seems clear that this was their intention nine years ago, but now having spent millions of pounds of our money in trying to achieve their aim, they have at last made up their minds. The only problem is that no one has been able to say what he has done wrong. He was accused of all manner of things, yet various expensive inquiries have cleared him of doing anything wrong.

So shouldn’t it be the hospital bosses who are sacked for wasting our money. Dr Mattu has undoubted skills, and should be allowed to exercise these for the benefit of those of us who paid for his training through our taxes. - Parminder Singh, Clarendon Street, Leamington.

Prosecution will have repercussions

I would like to voice my opinion at the decision by the CPS to prosecute the three Warwickshire Firefighters following the tragic events at the warehouse fire at Atherstone on Stour. I believe the repercussions of this decision will adversely affect the fire service across Britain.

These officers and firefighters were doing a job that they were highly trained for over many years.There will always be situations beyond one’s control, as happened in this case. Four firefighters tragically lost their lives doing a job they were immensely proud of. The officers charged would never knowingly send their colleagues and friends into a perilous situation to perish.

The firefighters’ code is: To preserve life; To protect property; To render humanitarian services; I believe this action may well strike out the first two of these as many an officer’s decision at future incidents could depend on his or her fear of prosecution.

I would hope that any court of law would take this into consideration in the `public interest` and for the whole future of the fire service in the UK, a service we have all come to depend on and which we would not want to lose. - Marion Oliver St James Meadow Road, Leamington.

Firefighters held in the highest regard

In the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, at the top of the new City Walkway, there stands an imposing bronze sculpture known as the National Firefighters Memorial.

The base of the memorial bears the names of the men and women of the United Kingdom fire services who over the years have given their lives in the execution of their duties. The names are too numerous to count but I am told that there are currently 2,258 names. I attended the funerals of some of these men including that of a good friend who served with me. If ever proof were needed that firefighting is not an exact science, this moving memorial bears mute and ample testimony.

Major fires frequently have unpredictable outcomes and firefighting is an inherently dangerous occupation, a fact readily acknowledged by all those of us who have ever played a part in it. It was and is a noble duty carried out by men and women whose over-riding motivation has always been public service.

I am dismayed that we appear now to live in a society in which such selfless and dutiful people are to be arraigned on criminal charges at huge public expense.Quite what the litigation resulting from the tragic Atherstone fire hopes to achieve is to say the very least, questionable. What is perfectly clear to most of us is that contrary to what the Crown Prosecution Service infers, these prosecutions are not in the public interest and command no support whatever from members of the public who hold the men and women of the fire service in the highest regard.

Given the level of public interest that this incident has generated, I would be amazed if any jury in the land would convict men who day in and day out risk life and limb in the service of each and every one of us. May that thought console them through the difficult days ahead. - Alan Griffin, Leam Street, Leamington Spa.

Commit the crime and pay a fine

I was somewhat upset to read the front page of the Leamington Courier on March 4.

This attack on Paul Calleja is just one of many that happen day in day out. I believe it is about time the Government and the police get together and do something about it.

I am sick of hearing about the NHS being stretched to the limit. Every weekend is the same in Warwickshire and the UK. It is about time we hit back and make the thugs pay for the cost of the services they use and abuse.

If we look at the cost of this case, alone I would shudder to think how much it has cost the taxpayer just to issue a damn caution. Let us not forget the time and hard work of the hospital and police involved in the case.

I would ask the Government and the police to look at charging for the wasted time. If the Government place a price on the cost of the crime, we would see a big drop in the weekend punch-ups in our towns. If someone knows that, the cost of a punch was going to come out of his or her pocket and not the taxpayers’ they would think twice. The NHS was never set up to be abused like it is. I bet if I were to walk round every hospital in the UK and ask the doctors and nurses to sign a petition to make the thugs pay for their crime I would need a truck or two to take the signatures to Downing Street.

Our police force is excessively soft and it is about time the UK stood up to the thugs and made them pay. I am fed up with paying for their crimes.

I wish Paul a speedy recovery and I commend him for standing up for his rights. - Damien Isaak, via email.

Time to give them a kick up the bum

I love reading the Courier every week, but how sad is it that everything you read is crime or cruelty. What has our country come to?

It makes me sad that we have good men and women out fighting for this country that they love and some losing their lives which goes onto destroy their families.

Then we have the ones that really don’t care. Where’s the next drug coming from, who can we happy-slap, which animal can I torture to death? Instead of prison which, let’s face it, does not improve them, train them and put them on the frontline. Make them respect something other than how incredibly stupid they are.

It’s about time the Government woke up and saw what is right in front of them. Let’s not make the taxpayer pay for three meals a day and free lodgings to a person that quite frankly needs a boot up the bum, let’s put the tax money to use and send them to fight for their country instead of causing fights in their country. - Debbie Shepherd, Coventry.

Youth cuts will cost us all dearly

EVERYBODY understands that local authorities are having to face tough decisions based on government spending cuts.

But how can Cllr Richard Hobbs, the portfolio holder for community protection, boast that the reduced incidents of criminal damage and anti-social behaviour in the county are down to early intervention programmes with a focus on youth?

Are these not the same early intervention programmes - children’s centres and youth clubs - that are facing massive cuts to their budgets?

In a report presented to the county’s Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cllr Hobbs rightly takes pride in the fact that tackling anti-social behaviour took a “youth focus” and played a significant role in reducing the numbers of reported incidents.

But this hasn’t stopped the youth service budget being cut from £4.6 million to £1 million.

These are purely short-term savings. You don’t need to be a genius to work out the long-term cost.

As one teenager at Lillington Youth Club said when she presented a petition against the cuts: “Youth clubs keep young people at school, reduce teenage pregnancy, prevent anti-social behaviour and stop people following a criminal path...”

The schoolgirl even went on to up the figures: the cost of keeping Lillington and Campion youth centres open works out at about £95,000 a year. The cost of putting a young offender through the court system and keeping them in custody for a year...about £100,000.

And the cost to the wider community....incalculable. - Name and address supplied.

Spa Centre deserves to be a success

The Spa Centre really deserves our support. A helpful box office and welcoming front of house staff make a visit a very pleasant experience. The marketing of the wide-ranging programme is excellent with frequent emails giving news of coming attractions. It’s an example of how such an attraction can be run-let’s hope it can prove a financial success. - Gillian Ingham, Ufton

Bring public in line with the private

Let’s hope public sector pensions will be brought into line with their counterparts in the private sector.

I haven’t forgotten Gordon Brown’s ‘pension stealth tax’, his £100billion smash and grab raid on private pension funds.

Our pension funds were raided to allow Labour to continue paying inflation-linked pensions to its friends in the public sector.

The six main trade union leaders did nothing for us when we lost most of our pensions but they are up in arms now they may have a dose of what we had to take. - George Sullivan, Pinehurst, Cubbington.

A shot in the arm for the Parade

I was pleased to read that something is finally going to be done with the Regency Arcade (Courier last week).

It is a lovely old building and it is a crying shame to see it lying empty. I do hope that the planned hotel goes through as it will give a much-needed shot in the arm to the bottom of the Parade which is frankly looking rather tatty. - Name and address supplied.