Letters to the Editor

I broke my ankle and was thus unable to see as much of your beautiful scenery as I would have liked. But the staff at Airedale were, without exception, friendly, efficient and professional!

Thanks to all of them.

P M JOHNSON

SIR - I totally sympathise with Mr and Mrs Foster and other patients whose dentists have turned to providing private Oral Health Care.

As politicians continue to make glib claims that the electorate have a right to NHS Dental Care, the shift to private dentistry gathers momentum with little hope of arrest.

Dentists are not generally extracting cash to line their own pockets, as Mr Foster believes, but are desperately seeking additional resources to provide the quality of care we all deserve.

There is no escaping the fact that NHS dentistry is under funded, and we must all pay more through taxation or directly, as we use the service.

It is not widely understood that the General Dental Practitioner (dentist) you visit regularly, or just when you have toothache, is a self-employed, specialist provider of medical care and not an NHS employee.

The NHS simply purchases whatever oral care the practitioner provides, less any fees paid by the patients, where applicable, according to a designated fee scale. General Dental Practitioners are under no obligation to continue to provide NHS Dental Care despite confusing political propaganda.

Gross government under-funding, together with failure to modernise, prohibits NHS dentists from offering the standard of care they would wish. The blame for the imminent total collapse of NHS dentistry should be placed fairly and squarely on successive governments and their failure, over many years, to acknowledge the importance of oral health

The real cost of providing quality oral care is far higher than the public is aware, and many premises currently in use are unsuitable for adaptation to meet modern standards.

At present, General Dental Practitioners provide their own premises, equipment and work team out of income, but, sadly, revenue from the NHS alone falls far short of providing resources to upgrade. In a climate of high expectations and litigation, the profession has no option but to provide quality care, even if this means withdrawing from the NHS.

It is possible that help could be at hand as the recently formed Patient Care Trusts take hold of the purse strings for local medical and dental provision.

However, whilst Oral Health Care remains a low profile political issue, higher fees from private patients are increasingly needed to subsidise the shortfall from the NHS. It is only fair that prime times are offered to private patients.

Although Mr Foster complains about restricted access to NHS dentistry at less popular times of the working day, he should be thankful that one of the practices to which he refers continues to offer NHS treatment at all.

Perhaps his wife should enquire about the availability of pay as you go, if she wishes to remain a patient at her previous practice and normally needs very little treatment. Capitation payment schemes are not necessarily the best option for patients with low treatment needs, but many prefer to spread the cost throughout the year.

Don't let the tooth fairy die unnoticed! Unless NHS dentistry is elevated to a higher profile in the political arena and appropriate funding is made available, it will not be long before we all pay the price of years of government neglect.

Modern Medical Practice facilities have much improved over recent years with increased government funding. Is it not time that Oral Health Care received the same support?

I am not writing from the point of view of a private practitioner but from that of the wife of a dedicated NHS provider who is endeavouring, on behalf of both dentists and patients, to promote quality Oral Health Care under NHS provision.

E FURNISS

Bridge Street,

Oakworth

SIR - I have also been with the same dentist for about 20 years as has my 11-year-old daughter and husband.

In December 2002 one of the partners retired and we were told 'not to worry' and 'we did not have to find another dentist', as the other partner would take over his patients and would not take any new ones on.

Then suddenly we get a letter saying after a free inspection we would have to pay in the region of £13-£23 per month each to stay with our existing dental practice.

In the last twenty years we have always had a six monthly check up and whatever work needed doing carried out.

On average our dental costs have been about £20 per six monthly visit, which then equates to £40 per year and not £156-£276 per year.

We are also in Sovereign health care, and they will not pay towards these costs as they class them as preventative medicine.

After ringing every dental practice in the Yellow Pages I found one taking on patients in Cottingley. As I do not drive this would be three bus rides away for my family and me.

How many other people out there are having this problem? And what do we do if we have an emergency?

Karen Friend

Beech Drive

Denholme

SIR - Re-Royal Arcade underground street at Low Street, Keighley.

Are the individuals on Bradford Council who wish to block any future chance of opening to the public this unique establishment, so creating a chance of a lifetime hands-on experience, the same individuals who are willing to splash out several thousands a year on ephemeral entertainment with clowns, balloons and stiltwalkers etc?

The same can also be applied to the Carnegie Library.

They seem to be of the opinion that like children they can say of the Keighley people "give 'em a penny lolly and they won't ask for a 99".

After all the thousands of pounds me and the thousands of other residents have poured into your coffers, I'd like Bradford now to start paying back in a more permanent way.

The council are literally rebuilding Bradford while we are being left to rot.

There are several underground museums and vaults - Glasgow, London, and York to name just three in this country - and don't forget Paris and Seattle where it is promoted in a big way.

So let's see some of the readies in Keighley for a change.

Lorraine

Houldsworth

Canberra Drive

Crossroads

SIR - With reference to Cllr Mallinson's comment in your report on the double yellow lines in Holycroft Street. The usage by the school and all businesses in that street are totally different.

It is not an entrance for school children, it is a vehicle entrance and car park for teachers. Business users have vehicles coming and going all day. Teachers and the school have two peak periods, morning and evening.

When Cllr Mallinson persuaded his fellow Cllrs to pass these lines it was against the advice of a Senior Highways Officer.

Cllr Mallinson last did work for Community Transport in 2001. It is less than two years, not more than four, which he claimed.

His actions have caused much inconvenience to all businesses and now makes it quite dangerous for pedestrians using Holycroft Street.

B HUDSON

Chair Keighley Community

Transport

SIR - I feel obliged to write to you in reply to many letters and comments regarding the Iraqi conflict and references to Tony Blair and George Bush.

I uphold the Iraqi conflict, which is still going on! And I deplore the spineless eruptions from whoever oppose that view on any grounds!

Tony Blair, and yes let's talk about our own Prime Minister, who in context I believe is a great Prime Minister, and deserves a great deal better than the utter rubbish thrown at him by also rans.

Tony tried hard to get the backing of the United Nations as everyone knows to no avail and, surprise surprise, he was mainly opposed by the French, and you know how they love the British.

I have for many years believed that if the United Nations had been the organisation it should have been, wars would be a thing of the past and supported by all including myself.

As the United Nations did not do their job when requested, as far as I am concerned they can keep their nose out.

JEFF BINNINGTON

Long Lee,

Keighley

SIR - Although I live at the other side of the world, I am moved to support Councillor Shackleton in his comments on Cross Roads park.

I was similarly appalled at the condition of the park on my last visit to my home village two years ago.

The deterioration of the facilities and general care in comparison to Haworth park is obvious.

The centralisation of local government to Bradford and their attitude in dispensing with the services of a permanent park keeper is an obvious reason.

On an earlier visit I chatted to the then part-time keeper, and queried the boarding up of the seated shelters.

He blamed it on vandals. Now the sheltered seating is no more and we froze whilst having a sandwich lunch in the park.

What happened to all the lovely bushes and gardens?

Are vandals allowed to win and destroy all that is good in the world?

BILL WALSH

Maxwelton Drive,

Mairangi Bay

Aukland, New Zealand

SIR - So, Richard Corbett, Euro MEP, would like us to Join the Euro, he would say that, it's part of a job creation scheme for people like him.

If president Blah decides to give the people of this country a say in their own future, please bear the following in mind.

During the run up to the introduction of the Euro, the people of France experienced a 10 per cent rise in the price of everyday goods, much like we in this country did when decimalisation was introduced.

These are official government figures, so the increase may actually have been greater.

We are also told that the pound is valued too high against the Euro and needs to be less before we can join, some say as much as 15 per cent less than when Europe adopted their new currency.

Surely this means that if you would like the purchasing power of your savings and pensions to be reduced by up to 25 per cent, you need to vote for the Euro.

If you think it's a bad idea, I leave the conclusions up to you.

CHRIS BRYANT

Parkway,

Steeton

Editor's note:- Once again I have been unable to use good letters sent by e-mail because we have been unable to verify them in line with our policy.