YOU quote Dr Andrew Buist, chair of the BMA's Scottish GP Committee, as saying that more funding is required "to take pressure off secondary care services [and] give the people of Scotland the level of care they need and deserve" ("GP service at 'tipping point' due to lack of funding", The Herald, December 1). What they and the efficient organisation of the NHS need and deserve above all else and would take that pressure off, is a return to a GP out-of-hours on-call service.
We have not had this core service since the disastrous GP contract of 2004 which allowed general practitioners to opt out of evenings, nights, weekends and public holidays on-call. That A&Es across the UK are now chock-a-block is unsurprisingly mainly the consequence and the figures support it. Illness knows no time limits, yet GPs are unavailable for over two/thirds of weekly hours.
The current "111" service and its understandably risk-averse call-handlers should be ditched and out-of-hours care returned to those best medically qualified to deal with it. The money saved could be used to support this and to mount a vigorous campaign to educate the public when and when not to call the GP. Many patients presently waiting in ambulance queues at A&Es might then still be in their warm beds after a house call.
There is stress and tiredness in out-of-hours duty but it can bring considerable clinical satisfaction. This and other clinically rewarding changes would return general practice to being the jewel in the crown of the NHS as it was once regarded and encourage recruitment.
Dr Stefan Slater (retired), Edinburgh.
Read more: Ferries could easily operate with fewer staff and save us millions
CalMac crew numbers justified
I TAKE exception to comments made by Roy Pedersen (Letters, November 30) about crew numbers on CalMac vessels. There may be scope for reducing shore personnel: at Gourock, for example, the number of office employees has grown threefold in 30 years; at Brodick, pier staff have gone from eight to 26; and on the Cumbrae service, staff on both sides of the crossing have multiplied due to a misguided new ticketing system.
By contrast, crewing levels on CalMac ships have continued to conform to regulations laid down by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which stipulate the ratio of crew to the number of passengers carried. If, as Mr Pedersen claims, crew numbers need to be reduced, the passenger capacity of CalMac ferries will drop accordingly, drastically reducing revenue and restricting the ability of these vessels to service the islands’ needs, especially in summer.
Mr Pedersen complains about a lack of dining facilities when he travels by train from Inverness to Edinburgh. Is he therefore suggesting that islanders and tourists travelling on lengthy sea journeys should be deprived of catering services?
CalMac crew do not work office hours. Vessels operated by CalMac and other ferry companies are staffed to a level that conforms to legally binding hours-of-work and safety regulations. The travelling public deserves nothing less.
Alex R. Forrest (retired chief engineer), Millport.
A soaring career
MAY I be permitted to add one little anecdote to the wonderful obituary to Frank Baillie (The Herald, December 2)?
When I became a member of the teaching staff of Crookston Castle Secondary School in Pollok in 1963 there was a wonderful group of pupils in the upper years of this comprehensive school. Among many others of great ability were such as Ian Forbes, who went on to have a stellar career in the media, and John McBain, who achieved high office in public health in Victoria, Australia. In this cohort was Frank Baillie, who was desperate to become a pilot in the Royal Air Force. To achieve this objective he had to have a good pass in Higher English and Frank was doubtful if that was within his capability. He was, however, willing to put in extra effort to reach the required standard and he and I spent many lunch hours studying the appropriate texts. He passed the examination and duly joined the RAF.
I did not hear of Frank for some years after that, apart from learning that he had had to leave his career flying at high altitude because of a perforated eardrum. It was, therefore, something of a surprise to me many years later to discover that he was the pilot on my Loganair flight to Islay and when he learned that I was on board he invited me to join him on the flight deck (impossible nowadays because of safety regulations) and he and I exchanged stories of our careers since we had last met whilst the co-pilot took charge of the controls.
Frank was a wonderful, warm human being who never lost sight of his background and those who had the pleasure to share with him part of life’s journey.
Hugh Nisbet, Barrhead.
Read more: Ayrshire cannot support two acute general hospitals
Comfort at a time of crisis
AT the height of the financial crisis of 2008 I joined a few hundred other Aberdeen University graduates at a fundraising reception for the university, in the West End of London. The guest of honour was to be Aberdeen graduate Alistair Darling, then, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, grappling with the biggest financial crisis since the 1930s.
Aware of the enormity of his task, few expected him to attend the reception. Late in the evening he quietly slipped into the room. But he was noticed. Spontaneously, the room filled with applause, as if to show appreciation of his attendance and support him in his hour of greatest political trial. The strain on his face seemed to drop away and his shoulders relaxed.
Not everyone in the room shared his politics, but everyone in the room shared with him their affection and common bond to the university. He knew that for at least once that day he was among friends.
Martin Roche, Glasgow.
My Tutti Frutti scoop
I WENT to the John Byrne exhibition at Kelvingrove last year ("Farewell to a Scots polymath", The Herald, December 2) and he was there on the same day. I spoke to him briefly and told him how much I had enjoyed Tutti Frutti. He said he had enjoyed it as well - and said that he had to keep on writing it as he wanted to know how it was going to finish.
Sad to lose a Scottish icon.
Les Campbell, Bearsden.
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