Letters to the Editor

NHS 'worth every penny'

SIR, - The ongoing controversy about the NHS has confirmed to me what has been apparent for a long time - once you've managed to get into an NHS hospital the service is largely excellent.

Sadly the call for admittance is often preceded by a call from our maker.

My own experience over the past four weeks may be of interest. On February 5, six hours after returning from holiday in Florida, I suffered a severe attack of diarrhoea and violent vomiting and retching which culminated in the rupture of my oesophagus with potentially life-threatening results.

The emergency paramedics were quickly on the scene and I was taken to Airedale General Hospital. My condition deteriorated and I was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Waiting for me at reception was a young American doctor who after introducing himself and asking me for a resume of the past 36 hours, stuck me in a chair and propelled me at great speed along the long corridors to emergency X-ray where he pushed me straight up to the machine.

He was no expert porter but someone told me I'd just been pushed by the highest paid porter in the NHS!

A quick look at the X-ray and we did a return journey to a ward, where he quickly prepared a sterile area round my chest and inserted a tube to begin the process of draining the lung cavity. A second drain was inserted next day and the process of restoration began.

I'll draw a veil over the next ten nights of pain, thirst and hallucination except to say that it was all worth it and I'm now back home gradually regaining my health and strength.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to everyone concerned with my recovery - the ambulance crews, the devoted doctors under the tutelage of the brilliant Mr Anikin, the marvellous nurses of Ward 21 who truly made me understand the meaning of 'tender loving care', delivered with a smile in the most wretched of circumstances, the Pain Control Unit and the countless others who play a part in that most complex of organisations, the NHS.

We sometimes complain that we have to pay too much in taxes and NHI contributions but my own experiences tell me that it's worth every penny.

BERNARD ABBEY

56, Hall Drive,

Burley-in-Wharfedale.

Waste of time

SIR, - Instead of wasting time on the election charade, the public should demand democratic reform and boycott the election.

Voting for any of the three major parties only gives credibility to a corrupt system. It makes no difference, which gets elected, they are fundamentally the same and their purpose is to protect the Establishment and capitalism.

Western democracy is a sham and designed to sustain a hierarchical society. It is subtle, but a sham nevertheless. The party system is a con to give the illusion of choice when there is really no choice at all.

How can this be a democracy when there is an un elected hereditary monarchy, an unwritten constitution and an unelected Prime Minister? The last Government was elected by less than 30 per cent of the electorate and the other 70 per cent disenfranchised.

If current opinions polls remain unchanged, a Labour lead of three per cfent will give Labour a majority of more than 100 seats. What's democratic about that?

Whatever happened to Blair's promise of proportional representation? Why is there no option to say 'none of the above' on the ballot papers? Why can't we vote to abolish the monarchy?

Blair's dictatorship is nowhere more evident than when he dragged us into five wars using false 'facts' and without public consultation.

If Blair is re-elected, Bush will lead us by the nose into a war with Syria and Iran.

We now have arrest without charge, imprisonment without trial, and Blair won't release the legal judgment on which he went to war. Presumably because it contains information that will expose him.

Acts like the Freedom of Information, Abolition of Fox Hunting and Disability Discrimination are scams. Don't believe anything a politician promises. A low turn out is not an expression of apathy. It is a perfectly valid protest.

We are at more danger than ever but not from terrorists. It is from the Establishment enemy within.

Malcolm Naylor

21 Grange View,

Otley.

Out of touch

SIR, - I was interested to see the letter from defeated Tory city councillor Gerard Francis in the edition of February 24.

Mr Francis and I were on the council for a year together and in all that time I don't recall him ever saying anything in the council chamber, so it's good to see he has finally found his voice.

Mr Francis has asked what my position is on the East of Otley Development proposals. Well once again we have an example of the Conservatives being behind the times and out of touch, for if he paid closer attention to what was going on, he would have read in the Observer over a month ago what my position is.

So let me update Mr Francis by repeating what was in the paper on January 27. As I was quoted as saying "Surely in the whole of the Leeds City Council area there are more suitable sites for development rather than this one which will put too much pressure on Otley and take away rural attractive land. Our message to the developers is that this is not wanted here and to go back and think again."

If Mr Francis finds himself similarly ill informed on other issues, he is welcome to write to me and I will try to keep him up to date if he and the local Conservatives can't manage this themselves.

So I have made my position clear, as have others from different parties and there are many who share the view that this development is wrong for Otley.

I am not alone in finding it disappointing that, instead of uniting over this, across party lines, there are those who seem more interested in political point scoring than standing up for local people.So can we have a more grown-up attitude to this whole issue so that those of us who oppose the development can unite to make the case stronger.

Coun Greg Mulholland

Leeds North West Liberal

Democrats,

255a Otley Road,

Bramhope.

Store praise

SIR, - I am writing to report on a charity collection that took place in Waitrose in Otley last Friday and Saturday. The collection was for Compassion in World Farming Trust (CIWF), a charity aiming to advance farm animal welfare and to educate people so that they can make informed choices about the food they buy. Traditionally, supermarkets have been reluctant to let CIWF collect in store, but Waitrose is actually the current holder of the CIWF award for 'Compassionate Supermarket of the Year', and for very good reasons! For moere than 20 years it has been working with farmers and advisory groups to raise the standards of animal welfare and husbandry.

For example, it was the first supermarket to refuse to sell eggs from hens kept in battery systems. Amongst its selection of organic and free range meat products are free range turkeys that are available all year round.

It's also the only supermarket to sell free range duck produced on selected UK farms. Most people don't know that many ducks, despite being water fowl, are reared in intensive systems like those for broiler chickens.

I would like to say a big thank you to Waitrose for allowing us to collect and to all the people who generously donated. We raised the sum of £505.07, every penny of which will help to make lives better for our farm animals. Our display attracted a lot of attention and we were heartened by kind words of support and encouragement that we received.

Mrs Heather Parry

17 Westwood Rise,

Ilkley.

No store

SIR, - If, after nearly three years of negotiation, Sainsbury's have not been able to sort out 'complicated land ownership problems', which presumably means that the owners of part of the site are not willing to grant them a lease, it seems hardly likely that the situation is going to change to allow a superstore to be built.

However, the point is probably irrelevant anyway. Their lamentable sales performance in recent times, coupled with a low share price, makes Sainsbury's a prime takeover target. When this happens, the new owner, whether it be Philip Green, Archie Norman or whoever, will be far too busy turning round the fortunes of the company to get himself involved in the building of any new stores.

Personally, right now, I'd rather buy Sainsbury's shares than their groceries.

Mr V G Heffer

18 St David's Road,

Otley.