Thank you for Tuesday's article on nine-year-old Jade Cumberland, who, after trusting the National Health Service and having her legs amputated, learned that the NHS did not honour its pledge to provide her with the prosthetic legs appropriate for her age, weight and needs.
Any child - or adult - who found her legs too heavy to carry would end up not wearing them. She would not go out to play with her peers and would eventually find her social life unnaturally limited.
The NHS's position is that they did not know of the problem. Try again. This is just another example of the NHS placing costs before the well-being of the patient. The question is: with all the taxes we pay why is the NHS so underfunded?
Where are the trillions of pounds going? And why does New Labour not explain to the public just why the NHS cannot pay the private sector to secure whatever it is a patient needs if they are not willing to do it themselves?
Keep fighting, Jade, every parent and right-thinking person is on your side.
The NHS is supposed to serve the public, not compromise its well-being.
Chris Pickup,
Kyme Street, York.
Updated: 10:39 Thursday, February 01, 2001
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