Letters - Tuesday, December 21, 2021

It is a pity that the Cabinet, who actually work together at Number 10, sometimes well into the night, were called to question for their temerity to have a pre-Christmas party last year, while the whole country was in lockdown.

Boris Johnson was not even there.

I really am not concerned about their party. I abide by the Government guidance, as do most of us who wish to avoid contracting Covid-19 and its variants.

It is a matter of sensible self-preservation anyway, especially for the elderly and vulnerable.

I find the whole incidence has been blown out of all proportion.

It is only Boris bashers who seem prone to produce reams of sanctimonious rant for any misdemeanour that comes to light. It becomes tedious.

However, I feel that the release of the video to media sources a year later was an act of malice by someone looking for any excuse to cause more trouble for the Government which has already had its work cut out for the past two years.

It was quickly picked up by the opposition which is only too keen to appear righteous and wholesome when it has made zero effort to assist with any of the problems that have beset the nation during the pandemic.

I know where my loyalties remain.

Mrs J Green

via email

Environment

Vic stretched like never before

The latest figures from the NHS show that at the end of October 2021, there were 23,037 people on the waiting list at Blackpool Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Some 1,046 people had been waiting for more than a year for an appointment and 29 people had been waiting more than two years.

Our local health care staff at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and across the town have been heroes in our community throughout the pandemic. But they are stretched like never before after a decade of Conservative mismanagement.

In March 2020, at the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, there were 4,235,970 people on the NHS waiting list in England, a then record high.

Nationally, the standard of 92 per cent of people seen within 18 weeks of a referral has not been met since 2016. Now, over 1 in 10 people in England are on the NHS waiting list.

People in Blackpool are being forced to wait months and even years for treatment, often in pain and discomfort. It is unacceptable and will have appalling consequences for patients health and mental health.

The Government has no plan to deal with the chronic shortage of GPs, doctors, nurses and social care staff, and has not set clear targets to reduce waiting lists and waiting times. Hospitals around the country are reporting unsustainable pressure and an inability to provide high quality care.

Last week as reported in the Blackpool Gazette, Blackpool Victoria Hospital patients were kept waiting in ambulances for four hours as overwhelmed A&E runs out of beds.

The Government must give us the staff and support Blackpool Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust needs to get through this winter and to get patients seen on time.

Chris Webb

Blackpool

ENVIRONMENT

Thank you Barry for theatre stories

May I through the Gazette say ‘thank you’ to Barry Band and his series’ (featured in Friday’s Gazettes) on Blackpool’s Hippodrome - come ABC Theatre, it’s progress and demise.

It has been interesting to learn a few things I knew already but most I didn’t know of the theatre’s history.

Spending holidays in Blackpool, we saw a few summer shows at the ABC and Barry’s series brought back memories that made me pull out my souvenir programmes from those shows, peruse and reminisce over those times and feeling the joy of seeing stars of the day we loved, perform live, along with impressive scene changes and not forgetting the auditoriums starlit effect ceiling.

Thank you Barry.

Clifford Chambers

Blackpool

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