Time for a rethink about what the NHS is able to provide
I agree that we need to have a rethink about what the NHS and healthcare as a whole should do. We need to change the emphasis from treatment to cure, from prescriptions to prevention.
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Using myself as an example, I have been a type-2 diabetic for almost 20 years. First I was prescribed Metformin, the dose of which was gradually ramped up, then another drug was added, then another, then another so that I almost rattle when I walk. 20 years ago, no-one said: 'Go on this diet and come back in six months, fatty'. Nobody said: 'I wonder why his pancreas suddenly stopped working properly'. Nobody ever looks at how my body is working in any detail; everyone looks at their own speciality. If they had looked at me properly 10 years ago when treating me for something trivial, they would have seen the early pathognomonic signs of the life-threatening condition I now am being treated for. I wouldn't have been on unnecessary anti-coagulants for years if an ECG recording had been examined by a cardiologist rather than someone trialling new equipment.
I have had the ridiculous situation where my GP takes blood from me to check on one thing and the hospital consultant repeats the process two days later to look at another factor.
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Medicine and surgery have changed dramatically since the NHS was created. We need to start from scratch and decide what we can afford to do. Life is unfair, and unless the structure of society is radically changed, the majority of us can never have the same options or opportunities that are available to the top 1%. We need more staff and more funding. First of all, we need to train enough staff here in the UK rather than relying on 25% of the staff coming from overseas. Those who gain their initial degrees in Scotland and are trained by the NHS should work full-time in the NHS and the private sector should train its own staff.
We need more time spent on initial consultations; regular health MOTs where every common condition that could affect a patient of that age is assessed. We need to stop providing treatments that modern medicine can do but are the 'icing on the cake'. Would society collapse if assisted reproduction wasn't available on the NHS? Should we offer bariatric surgery? I hate to say, it but should we treat OAPs like me if we can't be discharged home to look after ourselves, if the treatment simply delays the inevitable and gives no quality of life? The hospital service in Scotland will definitely collapse if 10% or more of the available beds continue to be taken up by those who do not require further inpatient treatment but just have nowhere to go.
If Obergruppenfuhrer Starmer can suddenly decide to double the UK defence budget to keep Nato happy, why can't he do the same for the NHS and keep us all happy?
David J Crawford
Glasgow
MAYBE Norman Robertson (Letters, June 17) missed the sardonic nature of my letter of June 16, but at no point did I single out Israel alone. I noted that each country was equally unstable. I also made clear Netanyahu faced internal opposition to his war from within Israel.
What I find interesting is that while Israel is reported on as being a 'state' by UK media, Iran is always referred to as a 'regime'; in fact the orange king of the USA of talks of Iran in terms of a 'regime change' being needed.
READ MORE: Angela Rayner does not rule out following US into war with Iran
The reality is that without USA defence funding and the backing of Zionist billionaires, Israel is busted. Without a war, Netanyahu is heading for criminal fines and possible imprisonment in Israel, all before the ICC gets hold of him for war crimes in Gaza. The only one who gains from further escalation in the Middle East is Netanyahu.
At no time in recent history has bombing of cities changed anyone's minds. The myth of precision bombing still leaves a lot of collateral damage. Ballistic missiles can be off their aiming point from between 200 to 500 metres, no matter their manufacturer's claims.
We are now at Sarajevo in 1914 and, courtesy of Mr Starmer getting a 'trade deal' with the orange king, the UK is already being sucked into the active defence of Israel whether any voter in the UK wishes it or not, with the RAF spy plane and increased Typhoon deployment to Cyprus. The Royal Navy is already active in the Red Sea and Hormuz Strait, shooting down missiles fired from Yemen while monitoring Iranian missile launches for the US and Israeli military.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer to chair emergency Cobra meeting on Middle East
How far away is the UK from putting boots on the ground on behalf of the regime in Israel?
I have seen 'active service', suffered having friends killed and maimed, and like many I would say that no matter how the politicians polish this particular turd, it always ends up in some form of negotiation or defeat, which raises the question 'why did we fight in the first place?'
Neither Iran nor Israel are worth the death of a single UK serviceman or woman, Mr Robertson, it is as simple as that, no matter who hit who first. We are not talking about a 'jackets aff' fight at the bike sheds here, we are looking at a tipping point for World War Three.
Peter Thomson
Kirkcudbright
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