Letters: How was the NHS so poorly prepared for the arrival of the pandemic?

SIR – Lord Frost (Comment, November 2) highlights the most serious mistakes made during the chaos of the Covid years.

It was clear from the start that NHS managers were – despite previous warnings of the possibility of a pandemic – totally unprepared. They appeared to have no contingency plans to cope with bed-blocking, and failed to put in place a coordinated plan with the care sector.

The Covid Inquiry is revealing the farcical goings-on in No 10, and the Government is being castigated for its failings.

However, there were other culprits too – not the brilliant NHS frontline staff, but their overpaid leaders.

John Neimer
Stoborough, Dorset

SIR – Boris Johnson may well have been right that older people should have been given a choice over lockdown, as Janet Daley suggests (telegraph.co.uk, November 1). But can anyone imagine Margaret Thatcher having her views “beaten back”?

Philip Cuddy
Wilmslow, Cheshire

SIR – Both Stuart Moore (Letters, October 31) and Keith Phair (Letters, November 1) suggest that a cost-benefit analysis should have been conducted before Britain was locked down. 

What value should have been ascribed to a human life? How many fatalities should have been used as the multiplier? Most of the numerical values bandied about during the pandemic were fairly wide of the mark. Such an analysis might have been no more useful than a lot of the modelling.

George Herrick
Rothes, Morayshire

SIR – An elderly friend with poor vision and hearing (which made telephone calls very difficult for her), confined to her care home during lockdown and not allowed visitors, wept that she would rather die of Covid than loneliness. By the time visitors were allowed again the isolation had loosened her grasp on reality and she was a shadow of her former self. Lockdown was a killer of minds.

Jan Bardey
Kineton, Warwickshire

SIR – When Dominic Cummings was appointed by Boris Johnson, I was hopeful that we finally had a fearless champion to take on the Blob.

In the event, Mr Cummings turned out to be Mr Blobby himself when it came to the state overstepping its normal bounds of authority. Above all, however, he turned out to be abusive, arrogant and incapable of working with anyone with whom he disagreed.

Alasdair Ogilvy
Stedham, West Sussex

SIR – If someone had installed a swear box in No 10 during the pandemic, the national debt would be much lower.

Tony Sharpe
Shepley, West Yorkshire

Nuclear scaremongers

SIR – Kathryn Porter’s excellent article (telegraph.co.uk, November 1) points out governmental fear-responses to nuclear power in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi accident of 2011. 

She highlights that no damage to health can be attributed directly to that incident, and it is important to note that much harm was caused by the unnecessary evacuation of the population from a large area surrounding the power plant. A local survey found that 60 per cent of the evacuated population experienced health deterioration – especially the elderly – and many had their income halved. 

The parallels between this and the global response to Covid are striking. Authorities around the world seem to favour highly visible, coercive and disruptive reactions to crises, despite these typically making them worse than they would otherwise be.

Am I the only one who feels that net-zero policies are pushing in just the same direction? Many net-zero proponents are treating the disastrous overreaction to Covid as their model for responding to climate change. Now, with a Covid Inquiry that looks as though has already decided on a ridiculous conclusion, one might expect them to use that too as an argument to support their harmful response to our climate troubles. 
Dr Robert Peck
York

Clandon challenges

SIR – Several correspondents (Letters, October 28) have asked why the National Trust cannot restore Clandon Park as Uppark was after the fire in 1989. As I was closely involved in the Uppark restoration, I can explain.

There, the fire broke out on the roof and burned slowly downwards. The walls of the showrooms survived intact, ceilings fell in pieces large enough to be reused and all but three items of the collection were saved. The Clandon fire, by contrast, started in the basement and, rising through voids, rapidly developed into an intense blaze. Despite determined efforts, most of the collections were destroyed, the fine plasterwork interiors stripped back to bare brick and the magnificent ceilings reduced to shattered fragments.

The challenge at Clandon is much greater and more complex than the one we faced at Uppark, and, having visited Clandon recently, I can attest to the diligent and thoughtful way the Trust’s staff are developing plans for the house’s future. Anyone with experience of a catastrophic fire will understand the desire to return things to how they were, but at Clandon that is quite simply impossible.

Martin Drury
Director general, National Trust, 1996-2000
London SW1

Season of catalogues

SIR – I wonder how many more catalogues I am going to receive before the Christmas season. I always cross out my address and request they are returned to sender, as they have not been requested and are not required. 

Is there is any possibility that Royal Mail does return them?

Pauline Hay
Epsom, Surrey

Sloes lying low

SIR – As with the hawthorn this year (Leading Article, November 2), there was abundant blackthorn blossom in May. This autumn, however, there are hardly any sloes to pick and add to gin.

Elizabeth Brimmell
Hinton Blewett, Somerset

Prescribing cannabis

SIR – The Government is inadvertently fuelling social harm across the UK as a result of its medical cannabis policies.
This is because existing regulations are driving up to 1.8 million patients eligible for prescription cannabis into the £2 billion illicit market every year. 

The current law states that only specialist doctors can legally initiate medical cannabis prescriptions. The costs of private medical cannabis prescriptions can be prohibitive, especially for those who may be on low incomes or disability benefits.

The result is that less affluent prospective patients instead turn to the illicit market, where they are exposed to a host of health and legal risks.

There are media reports indicating that the illicit market is increasingly controlled by Albanian organised criminals. Drug-related profits from illicit cannabis sales are extremely harmful to society and are directly linked to human trafficking, money laundering, and the purchase of illegal firearms.

One meaningful change to correct the situation would be for the Government to amend the law to allow GPs to prescribe medical cannabis to their patients, rather than it being the preserve of specialists only.

This would tackle the low number of prescribers, reduce stigma and broaden awareness among doctors and patients.

Jamie Bartley
Co-Chair, Cannabis Industry Council
Dr Callie Seaman
Co-Chair, Cannabis Industry Council
Professor Mike Barnes 
Honorary President, Cannabis Industry Council
Professor David Nutt
Founder, Drug Science
Hannah Deacon
Executive Director, Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society
Dr Leon Barron
Chair, Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society
Maxwell Marlow
Director of Research, Adam Smith Institute
Christopher Snowdon
Head of Lifestyle Economics, Institute of Economic Affairs
Mike Morgan-Giles
CEO, Cannabis Industry Council
Dr Sunil Arora
Co-Chair, Cannabis Industry Council Prescription Cannabis Working Group
James Smith
Co-Chair, Cannabis Industry Council Prescription Cannabis Working Group
Dr Shanna Marrinan
Co-Chair, Cannabis Industry Council Research and Science Working Group
Elisabetta Faenza
Chair, Cannabis Industry Council Standards Working Group
Sam Cannon
Co-Chair, Cannabis Industry Council ESG Working Group
Gareth Dundee
Vice Chair, Cannabis Industry Council Ireland Working Group
Kirsty Morrison
Vice Chair, Cannabis Industry Council Prescription Cannabis Working Group
Dr Dani Gordon
Dr Niraj Singh
Dr Elizabeth Iveson
Dr Rebecca Moore
Dr Evan Lewis
Dr Helen Beckett Wilson 
Liverpool John Moores University
Dr Lindsey Metcalf McGrath
Liverpool John Moores University
Professor Mike Hough
Birkbeck, University of London
Rayyan Zafar
Imperial College London
Paul North
Director, Volteface
Marika Graham-Woods
Executive Director, Cannabis Trades Association
Alex Piot 
Director of Research, Centre for Evidence Based Drug Policy

Throw off your ties

SIR – Forcing male MPs – or, indeed, any man – to wear a tie is outdated, discriminatory and sexist (Letters, November 2). 

Only a couple of years ago, Tracy Brabin MP complained of sexism when her off-the-shoulder dress was criticised as “unsuitable”, yet if a man has his top button undone it is seen as the end of the world. 

Steven Field
Wokingham, Berkshire

SIR – Stephen Doig writes about the dos and don’ts of wearing trainers with a suit (Features, November 2). 

There is just one simple rule: don’t.

Mike Tickner
Winterbourne Earls, Wiltshire

Time for tougher restrictions on firework sales

SIR – Once again we are approaching November 5, when untrained, irresponsible people will be setting off potentially dangerous fireworks in their back gardens – frightening the life out of pets and risk injury to people. 

In 2021, 116 were admitted to hospital injured by fireworks; 21 were aged under 14 and nine were aged between one and four. It is time to ban the sale of fireworks to the general public. Displays should only be conducted by professionals at designated sites.

Sandy Pratt
Storrington, West Sussex

SIR – Could a scientist tot up the harmful emissions of the average bonfire and compare them with those from my petrol car during the 3,000 miles I drive a year? Should Just Stop Oil be Just Stop Bonfires?

Ian Burton
Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

A victory for humanity in railway ticket offices

SIR – At last politicians and those who run our railways have listened to the people and reversed the policy of removing ticket-office staff (Letters, November 1). We human beings are tired of the “computer says no” mentality; we like to deal with other humans. We are social animals, and in the long run – whatever the accountants say – human interaction is much more efficient and satisfying.

It is a battle won, but sadly the war goes on.

Brian Farmer
Braintree, Essex

SIR – Now that ticket offices are to remain open, I hope my experience at Manchester Oxford Road will not be repeated. I asked at the ticket office for a single to Southport but was told to use the machine. I explained that, perhaps because of my age, I couldn’t get my railcard discount, but the staff member still refused to serve me. 

I complained to Northern Rail, now under government control. It said it could not tell me what action it had taken because of the Data Protection Act, and it didn’t offer me the discount I missed out on. What hope is there for railways with or without ticket offices?

Chris Lewis 
Widnes, Cheshire

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