THE BBC reported during the last week that the elderly in England and Wales are not going to be taken to hospital if they have symptoms of Corona Virus in Care Homes. In areas of England and Wales Do Not Resuscitate Notices en masse are being attached to care plans of the elderly and one manager of one care home interviewed on Newsnight said this "was disgusting’’. In fact, the Care Quality Commission has demanded that this stop.

I am shocked to learn that 13 elderly people showing symptoms of the coronavirus died at Burlington Court Care Home in Cranhill, Glasgow, during the last week without any of these elderly people being tested for Covid-19 as none were taken to hospital – seeming to confirm a policy of the elderly being left in care homes to die. The Chief Medical Officer for Scotland has to be held to account and questioned on this. If this is unstated policy throughout the UK it has to stop and the elderly where possible should be given every chance of living by being taken to hospital and put on a ventilator in hospital. As I write this, I am thinking of my 82-year-old father and every elderly person. They are human beings with dignity, not numbers to be written off.

Sean Clerkin, Barrhead.

YOU would think that during the current Covid-19 crisis, doctors are at a premium and are being snapped up with open arms by the NHS. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case.

I am a UK and NHS-trained doctor and for the past six years I have worked as a senior emergency medicine doctor in the NHS. I am also a qualified GP. Since mid-January I have been working as a civilian doctor for the Ministry Of Defence.

When I saw and read about the strain that the NHS was under, I felt it was my professional and moral obligation to step forward and offer my services.

You would think that this would be fairly straightforward. The GMC has been contacting doctors who gave up their registration in the past three years and they are being granted temporary registration if they wish to volunteer. Final-year medical students are even being granted interim temporary registration. However, there is nothing on the GMC website directing registered doctors on how to volunteer for so-called Covid jobs.

Similarly, the British Medical Association, the trade union representing doctors, has been of no help either. When I asked very specifically about this subject matter, I was sent a couple of website links to its generic career advice and advertised jobs pages.

Other routes, for example Google searches, posting on LinkedIn and even some direct approaches to hospitals, have all been equally fruitless.

I must say that I am at a total loss as to how I go about volunteering to work in the NHS in this time of crisis. It seems to be so difficult that I almost exasperated. Any help or advice that can be offered by anyone would be much appreciated.

Dr Anthony Matheson, Dumfries.

I AM astonished that the Scottish Government has chosen to name the SEC hospital after a nurse who died from an infectious disease contacted from patients whom she was treating. We are currently in a pandemic where evidence from other countries and from other parts of the UK make it clear that NHS personnel in Scotland will die from a virus contracted from patients. Does the Government not see the crass lack of sensitivity? I’m sure Louisa Jordan merits recognition but this is neither the time nor the place.

Paul Teenan, Consultant Surgeon, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow.

THE name of the new hospital in Glasgow is of far less importance than the need to build the hospital as soon as possible. It would be wonderful if, as the First Minister has said, the hospital might not be needed. Was she was referring to future needs of Scottish patients? Who is to say the hospital might not have to be used by patients from our nearest neighbours in England, Northern Ireland or Wales, if their systems become overloaded or to help people from Malawi or other Commonwealth countries should they become overwhelmed at some point in the future?

I am sure if the Scottish health system were to become overwhelmed we would hope to be helped by our neighbours.

Marilyn Smellie, Cambuslang.

IT was with absolute horror that I learned that the UK does not require passengers arriving on flights from abroad, including hot spots New York, Spain and Italy, to go into self-isolation on arrival for at least seven or even 14 days. It seems Home Secretary Priti Patel and her office are looking at the scientific evidence to see if this is necessary. In many other countries this is mandatory, Australian states and territories are closing the borders between each other.

This appears to be another serious error, along with the alarming delay in testing and the ordering of PPE and ventilators, as advised by the World Health Organisation.

Unfortunately, the cumulative result of these practices will be the high death rate in the population.

James Cant, Eaglesham.

I WAS in my local branch of Tesco today and noticed they finally had paracetamol in stock. I had been trying to get a packet of these for weeks "just in case". I'm lucky enough not to have need generally speaking for pain relief and therefore had none in the house. The last time I bought a pack of supermarket own brand paracetamol, which would be a few months ago, they were about 40p. Tesco is now charging 75p for its branded pack. Arthur Daley is alive and well and working for Tesco.

Margaret Thomson, Airdrie.

I FIND it somewhat amusing at a time when much of the corporate world is furloughing staff and has its begging-bowl out looking for a state handout that highly-paid footballers are being picked on and brow-beaten into accepting a pay cut. The players may be able to afford it but they are not alone.

We live in a country where just six people have as much wealth as the poorest 13 million citizens. Depending on who you believe the UK has 100 or so billionaires and more than 800,000 millionaire families. Quite a few of these people have their backsides parked on the green or red leather benches in Westminster or have strong commercial ties to those who do; many have gongs and honorary titles for doing just exactly what, other than donating to party funds? If our soccer stars can be asked to chip into the communal kitty what about the same being asked of our billionaires and millionaires. What about you, Sir Phillip? What about chipping in for a few ventilators?

David J Crawford, Glasgow G12.

GRIM as things are just now, these difficult times will pass. Perhaps when we emerge from this crisis there will be more thought, compassion and empathy for those in the world who live in crisis every day of their lives. Billions of people live each and every day with perennial threats such as malaria, water-borne diseases, hunger, violence and war.

For most of us in the UK and elsewhere, life will be back to a comfortable norm in a matter of months or, at worst, a year or two. Maybe when things are back to normal we can demand that governments use a fraction of the financial firepower they’ve deployed against Covid-19 to tackle those other threats and ensure that many more of our kind, wherever they are in the world, can live in security and with hope.

Doug Maughan, Dunblane.

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