Labour should reopen small hospitals as care homes

I AGREE with Professor Karol Sikora regarding why there are very few beds available for new patients.

I am 75 years old and last year I had frequent visits to my local hospital because of falls in my flat.

At that time it was Blackpool Hospital. Most times I spent the first night on a trolley in the hallway of A & E. When I eventually got a bed it was usually in a ward full of elderly patients with various stages of Alzheimer’s.

Each visit was a repeat of the first just a different ward each time and I was concerned about how many elderly people were in hospital because there was nowhere else for them.

When I was young, elderly parents would go to live with one of their children. If that wasn’t possibly there was numerous cottage hospitals with trained nurses and care assistants.

Now, the only place left are general hospitals. If the Government reopens and staffs these smaller hospitals as care homes it would release hundreds of beds in a matter of months.

I know the money needs to be found for these care homes and the private care homes will not be well pleased - but the NHS is receiving billions of pounds every year from our taxation so surely we should have some say in how it is spent.

Just in case anyone was curious, my eldest son persuaded me to move closer to him and found me a flat in a retirement complex just down the road from him so he is now able to pop in almost daily.

It’s heartwarming that there are still some families who look after family.

Ann Cruickshank,

Laund Road,

Salendine Nook,

Huddersfield

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Budget leaks prepare us for 'horror show"

EACH leak emanating from the Treasury concerning Labour’s first budget greatly magnify claims during the General Election, made by Starmer and Reeves, to be more than dubious, bordering on untruths.

“Fully costed” a myth, promises mere words, the black hole a convenient invention.

At least after the “horror show” of October 30th, the pantomime season awaits to lighten the gloom and despair.

How long before Starmer has the front door of no. 10 painted vivid red…

Peter Rickaby,

West Park,

Selby,

North Yorkshire

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UK relationship with US could be harmed under Trump victory

NOBODY likes Putin interfering in foreign elections so why Starmer thinks it is OK for Labour to do so is beyond me.

Lammy is hopeless too - should Trump win, our relationship with the US will be down the tubes for sure.

Their next step will be to give the EU whatever it wants.

Maybe Rwanda was a good idea after all.

The only country not safe right now is the UK, for its citizens.

John Zimnoch,

Osbaldwick

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Get your child the measles vaccine - side effects are serious

PLEASE get your child vaccinated against measles.

It's a dreadful disease with lasting side effects including deafness.

Eunice Birch,

Coombs Close,

Sutton on Forest,

York

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