Life and Death...
I have read your article, "A matter of Life and Death" with utmost caution you have been extremely clever in raising serious concerns for the public whom reside in the borough of Bexley. Is it your intention to use scare tactics to the frail and vulnerable members of the community? It is this group of people who will read this article and become very worried.
As a member of the general community it is my understanding that Bexley PCT has provided Queen Mary's Hospital with an Urgent Care Centre in order to treat injuries and illnesses.
As for the longer journey to either Princess Royal or Queen Elizabeth Hospitals for treatment of a stroke does it not make perfect sense that people are seen by doctors in hospitals that specialise in complex illnesses in order to receive the most appropriate treatment, and not somewhere that is neither equipped or expert in dealing with these patients. Surely the life expectancy must be decreased if seen by the latter.i.e. Queen Mary's.
I and many others believe that the proposed changes will prevent loss of life and that Queen Mary's Hospital will no longer be providing a second class service to the people of Bexley.
A concerned reader!
• I listened with interest to what Prof.Alberti and his colleagues had to say. Their practical solutions might solve the medical problems let’s hope all the side issues of care in the community and extra services from surgeries will prove right. I remember when the NHS said nurses could do what midwives did and then said support nurses could do the jobs of trained nurses. Look where we are now! Ed
Debt doubled
I read with great interest how the B.C.T. has doubled the debt to £1.5m, in view of this, which other services if any, will be cut especially in the community. Who is responsible for this blunder? Why not sack them without severence pay? As for Queen Mary’s loss of missing files, for many months now it is not uncommon for patients files to go missing. Patients have had to re-arrange operations, others have had to wait two hours before a file is found, and now important files have disappeared. I do wonder if there is a sinister motive to this problem, or are people just not doing their jobs properly. As for the 700,000 copies of the consultation document asking for comments on the health proposals of the four hospitals involved. I have attended many meetings on this subject. They just keep repeating what Dr. Alberti and Co. say.
I have wondered how much money it is costing and how many people will fill it in and return? It is supposed to be a consultation document, I think they want people to agree with what Dr. Alberti and Co. say. They do not listen - how will the hospitals cope with extra patients? will there be more staff and facilities? what about parking and its high cost? distances from home to hospital?
What a pity Gorden Brown could not give some money to the N.H.S. instead of helping out Northern Rock.
J Rouse. Sidcup.
Fuel prices
The price of oil on the world market is going up and down like a yo-yo. Mostly up.
In January 2007 a barrel of oil cost $54 - by the end of December it was up to $100.
Not surprisingly the impact of this increase has been felt by all car drivers and by the UK transport industry, which delivers the goods which sustain all of us every day of the year.
UK road users pay the highest rates of fuel duty in Europe - 50p per litre in fuel duty and then VAT on top of the whole price. So for a pump price of £1.05 for petrol or diesel, the breakdown is 39p for the fuel, 50p for the duty and 16p for the VAT - the Chancellor gets 66p tax out of £1.05.
Clearly the Chancellor can have little influence on the world price of oil. But, equally clearly, he can do something about the tax take - a massive 63 per cent.
Sadly, he presently plans to increase his take by adding a further 2p per litre to the duty level on 1 April.
With the economy in some difficulty and inflation threatening, the prospect of higher fuel prices in the spring should worry us all. Given that everything needs to be delivered and that diesel fuels those deliveries, then a fuel duty rise is itself adding to the inflationary problem.
The Freight Transport Association says that the Chancellor should scrap his proposed 2p fuel duty increase. Perhaps you do too?
Gordon Telling
Freight Transport Association
Hermes House
St John’s Road
Tunbridge Wells,
Kent TN4 9UZ
Can we trust Bexley Council?
‘Can we trust Bexley Council’? - you ask appro. the Manor House in Sidcup. The answer is emphatically ‘NO’. With their almost fanatical policy of reducing the Council Tax at all costs, Tory Councillors lose their sense of proportion - and lose sight entirely of that part of their role as custodians of the quality of life and the environment of the community they represent.
The same shortsighted attitude was held in the seventies when the decision was taken to approve the erection of a prefabricated oblong box for the Civic Offices which has now reached the end of its life and needs to be replaced.
The Manor House and Wyncham House should be removed from the portfolio of buildings for sale that the Council wishes to dispose of to finance the erection of a new Civic Office block.
It was English Heritage that supplied the money for the restoration of the Manor House - a beautiful historic building that enhances our environment and is a joy to use. There is a smell of betrayal in the desire to raise money on it now.
Wyncham House was designed and built purposely for the Development and Planning Department of the Council. The Council owns it and therefore controls the maintenance and development of its use. The shortsighted proposal that it be sold off and then leased back to the Council means loss of control of future maintenance and development costs of the building - financial difficulties a future Council can well do without.
Our hopes that the short-sightedness of the 1970’s is not going to be repeated but we are not confident of that. Sufficient pressure for the retention of these two buildings needs to be voiced by all residents.
E Rhodes. - Sidcup.
Police Stations
The Metropolitan Police are looking currently at the need to keep police stations in London. They have published an Asset Management Plan for each borough in London. Bexley’s can be found on the following link: www.met.police.uk/bexley. This has arisen as, with the advent of Safer Neighbourhood policing, many local teams are now based in schools and other premises in their local wards.
Bexley’s police are now carrying out a similar exercise. As a result, a public meeting has been arranged for you to give your views on police stations in Bexley. This will be held at Bexleyheath School, Graham Road, Bexleyheath on Tuesday 5 February, starting at 7.30pm.
Do you want to keep Sidcup, Bexleyheath and Belvedere police stations open? Are they needed today for the elderly and the vulnerable, or should they be closed down and let the police be housed in local premises?
Come along and give your views on 5 February.
Graham Holland
Chairman - Bexley Police Consultative Engagement Group
Car Jacking!
Shame on you Bexley Chronicle! I have a lot of time for your paper as, unlike many other “local” papers, it actually includes Sidcup news. However, you let yourself down with the item on car jacking on page 15 of the February edition. This is a well-known long-running scam - see the following internet link http://www.sophos.com/security/hoaxes/rearwindow.html
I suggest a bit more effort in the future - it only took me 10 seconds to check this out using Google.
Geoff Taylor
Well good for you Geoff. I’d not heard of this scam and I doubt if many other readers would have done. Do you honestly expect them to randomly search the internet for vague websites! Ed
Dear Editor
I thought I must just take time to thank you for an informative and interesting paper as you will see from my address I now live in Bromley but resided in Sidcup for 40 years, and have many friends I visit, it was on one of these visits I picked up the Chronicle at Sidcup Station and enjoyed reading John Steward, he speaks from the heart with sentiments we all endorse. I thought it was my lucky day when visiting a friend (who I might say lives in a flat in Carlton Road) and had the Feb. Chronicle put through the letter box, I had already spoken about the many interesting points and the joy of John Steward’s writing. I wasn’t disappointed, we spent a happy hour in discussion with a few laughs and memories, well done John. Keep it up. I truly look forward to next month. Thank you.
PS. I shall certainly be on the protest march to save Queen Marys Hospital. Having my son in the hospital and being a cancer patient in 1995 receiving excellent treatment on both occasions.
Carol Smith. Bromley.