Letters to the Editor - October 11th

Oct 11 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

Drugs policy: The facts

IN RESPONSE to your front-page article “What price life?” and the so-called “postcode lottery” (Tuesday, October 9), we should like to clarify how we make difficult decisions about new drug treatments.

No patient is ever denied treatment for purely financial reasons. The panels involved in making decisions about requests for treatment are not made up of “bureaucrats”, but very senior skilled professionals who access expert clinical advice.

Each panel takes into account this expert medical and clinical advice on the effectiveness of an individual treatment, along with information about the condition of each patient.

In the case of many cancer treatments, there is an agreement across Cheshire and Merseyside to prescribe certain drugs and treatments on a consistent basis across the region.

For treatments involving newly- developed drugs, each patient’s needs are considered on an individual basis.

This explains why a patient in Liverpool may be given a treatment, while a patient in Sefton isn’t – they may have the same illness, but be at different stages in the progression of the illness. Equally, some treatments can be of benefit during different stages of an illness.

For certain drug requests, such as for the treatment of asthma or arthritis, each Primary Care Trust is able to make decisions on what it will or will not fund, based on the health needs and priorities of its population. It is important that each Primary Care Trust is able to respond to local needs. It may agree to fund a drug for an individual patient based on their specific condition.

Sutent is not automatically prescribed for treatment of kidney cancer, as there is little evidence that it is effective as a second stage treatment. However, it can be prescribed for some patients where there is evidence that it will be of benefit.

In summary, we should like to assure all our residents that decisions to fund drug treatments involve expert clinical advice and always take into account the individual needs of patients and their specific conditions.

Leigh Griffin, Chief Executive, Sefton Primary Care Trust; Derek Campbell, Chief Executive, Liverpool Primary Care Trust; Kathy Doran, Chief Executive, Wirral Primary Care Trust; Helen Bellairs, Chief Executive, Western Cheshire Primary Care Trust

New Brighton deal

LARRY NEILD’S article about New Brighton, on September 10, was spot on. Wirral Borough Council and Neptune are hell-bent on carving up a deal whereby the promenade is legally stolen from the people and sold for 40 pieces of silver.

It’s quite clear the proposals are not centred on the needs of preservation or the community, but on the money providers.

In response to Cllr Pat Hackett’s “only show in town, so bring it on”, why is it the only show in town? Simple answer – because committees like the one he sits on have done next to nothing on this issue for almost 30 years.

Cllr Hackett’s 40-odd years in New Brighton may be significant to someone, but it is insignificant to this coastline, which has been in existence a tad longer.

Get real, guys. Put a majestic replacement Lido back in its former location, along with the boating lake as they are logical outdoor pursuits.

Cinemas, supermarkets, etc, are indoor pursuits, and not so dependent on weather, so why not put them where the sun doesn’t shine?

Ray Goode, former New Brighton resident

Expert trend

FURTHER to previous Daily Post Letters page correspondents, what are the use of so-called “experts”, if they get the answers so spectacularly wrong?

There seems to be a trend of inept forecasting by people who claim to be better informed than the rest of us, and it’s spreading throughout every sphere of activity.

As shown in two letters published in the Daily Post this week, we have examples of these incompetent opinion-givers graphically shown in entirely unrelated subjects. T Molyneux, of Aigburth, berates the rugby pundits for incorrectly writing off western Europe. In fact, England got through to the semi-finals and Scotland managed to reach the quarter-finals, losing heroically to Argentina.

Meantime, K Watts, of Warrington, draws our attention to the “eeny-meeny, miny-mo” of political reporting: How, if Gordon Brown is doing well this week for leading Labour, then he must be taking a pratfall next – and vice versa with David Cameron and his fortunes in charge of the Tories.

Do the political reporters have conversations along the lines of: “Oh, I’m tired of Gordon looking good, let’s say he’s lost it for a bit”?

Is this all driven by 24-hour TV news services which simply don’t have enough reports to fill their schedules, so are forced into this endless scenario of under-informed correspondents twittering like gormless housewives gossiping over an electronic backyard fence?

K McPherson, Formby

Skyline protests

THOSE who want Liverpool’s cityscape to remain unchanged are a perennial chorus throughout the city’s history.

A century ago, when the Liver Building was being designed, I daresay the Daily Post was full of protests from those who thought much the same as Dr Anthony Small (Monday, October 8). It must have been a radical shape to Edwardian eyes, but now, of course, it is the symbol of the city.

Fifty years earlier, Peter Ellis’s revolutionary design for Oriel Chambers, in Water Street, prompted such vicious personal attacks that he never designed another building. Oriel Chambers is now regarded as one of the most important of its age.

A decade earlier,Jesse Hartley’s brick warehouses at Wapping, Stanley and Albert Docks probably roused rage and venom with their stark, almost brutal lines – the antithesis to typical Victorian extravagance. Yet Hartley’s buildings are now much-loved city assets and the Albert Dock draws millions of visitors.

By all means, keep beautiful buildings of the past – we have lost too much – but embrace the brave designs that could be the icons for the future. Stick-in-the-mud traditionalists will keep the city mired in the past.

Arabella McIntyre-Brown, Aigburth

Market appeal

HERE we are, three months away from Liverpool Capital of Culture 2008. How very exciting for this wonderful city of ours, with so much culture and so much to offer.

But we have definitely missed out on a truly wonderful opportunity to create a first-class weekend market to reflect the maritime and ethnic mix of our city.

Lots of other smaller cities and towns have successful weekend markets. Why not Liverpool?

It would have been a superb tourist attraction for the thousands of expected tourists and provide a base for the years to follow, creating hundreds of jobs.

Council markets apart, private market operators from outside Liverpool have promised a great deal but have achieved little or nothing. They seem not interested in Liverpool, only quick profit.

With time rapidly running out, what is needed is a Liverpool weekend market for local traders and operated by Liverpool people.

George Downey, Allerton

Old policies

WITH regards to Rob Merrick’s article “Darling steals Tory policy”, it is a shame he missed the opportunity to say “who is stealing from whom?”

Could I direct Rob and your readers to UKIP’s 2005 (Yes, that’s 2005) General Election Manifesto that clearly shows we where promising an increase of the threshold for Inheritance Tax way back then.

However, this is not the first time the Tories have taken our ideas, about the same time they also laid claim, chapter and verse to our immigration policy within weeks of us publishing it.

So if anyone wants to know who is setting the political agenda, I would suggest the look a bit more closely at UKIP policies.

Joe Moran, Branch Secretary, UK Independence Party

Rats menace

I THINK Liverpool City Council is right to include in Defra statistics each black bag which is left outside when it’s not due to be collected (Daily Post, Oct 10).

Firstly, how is the council supposed to know whether the rubbish has been fly-tipped or whether it is a genuine mistake? According to Defra, rubbish in single black bin bags are categorised as put out on wrong days.

Secondly, if lots of people are having trouble remembering the day rubbish is collected – and it’s not hard to find out, let’s be honest – surely it is useful for the council to have figures so they know where the problem needs to be addressed.

The fact is that rubbish containing foodstuffs, in however many bin bags of whatever colour, is going to attract rats if left out for long periods, and that is one visitor to the city which none of us want.

S Longhouse, Waterloo

Suffering

NOW a mother from Halewood is talking about asking doctors for a hysterectomy to help ease the suffering of her disabled daughter.

This comes just days after the news that a mother in Essex had been given the green light for a similar procedure on her daughter.

Both of these cases are terribly sad and we cannot imagine the pain and suffering these parents have gone through.

But carrying out a procedure as dramatic as this must be carefully thought through.

Whatever the outcome is, it cannot be for the benefit of the parent – it must come down to whatever is in the best interests of the child.

L Karim, Widnes

Drink deal

SO KIEFER Sutherland has allegedly struck a deal with prosecutors so that he can serve his time for drink-driving without disrupting filming of his TV series. Lucky him.

Why is his job as an actor any different to any ordinary civilian’s?

Talk about one rule for them and another for us.

T Moore, Southport