Your Letters

Re-open the care beds

Sir, — The rather extensive articles of January 26 I have read and read again.

It is totally confusing as to who was to blame for the closure of the care beds and no one wants to accept responsibility for the decision.

Why weren’t the local community and doctors allowed to put their views to the care board prior to the closure of these beds?

Lack of communication once again, which seems to be the norm these days in all walks of life.

There was obviously a need for these beds — if they were being used they needed to be available and kept open.

If we were given prior warning of what was going to happen we would have been out there protesting.

The hierarchy seem to think they can bulldoze over us mere mortals and we will roll over and agree to their decisions without a fight. Wrong.

If the Prime Minister can do a U-turn on some of the bad decisions he makes because we protest enough and get our voices heard, why can’t this lot admit they made a bad decision?

If the only way we (the community) are given a voice is by protesting, then let us do it.

This decision is stupid. It is all very well saying it is better for patients to go home from hospital after treatment rather than go to the beds that were at Townlands Memorial Hospital/ the Chilterns Court care centre but there aren’t the carers available for this to work. Ludicrous.

People on their own need the extra care in a community hospital for them to recover and also free up beds in the Royal Berkshire Hospital which cannot cope with the demand, creating bed blocking.

Some “nerd” at the top makes decisions without going into the ins and outs of it.

No wonder there are so many protest marches going on because this seems to be the only way to get Joe Public’s views and voice heard. They keep on about human rights etc., and these have been ignored.

It all comes down to money again, not what is best for the people who live here in Oxfordshire.

What are they going to do with that space where the beds were — another empty space like the first floor at the new Townlands used to be for a long time?

Henley and this area seem to be losing everything — the Peppard Chest Hospital, the War Memorial Hospital, the maternity unit and the Sue Ryder hospice.

We lost Fairmile Hospital and Borocourt Hospital to care in the community and that didn’t work for mental health patients.

We have a minor injuries unit at Townlands and clinics for referrals from the Royal Berks. That’s our lot.

It stands to reason that we need these beds more than ever.

More and more houses are being built, which has a knock-on effect, so to put more pressure on community hospitals further away is a ridiculous idea.

Be the bigger person/care board or whoever you are, and admit you made a terrible mistake and open up these beds again now.

It seems to be a case of passing the buck. No one seems to want to own up to the big faux pas they’ve made.

A friend of mine in her nineties was admitted to hospital on New Year’s Eve by ambulance in a queue of 16 ambulances for eight hours.

She was released from hospital with no care package in place and struggling, home alone. Her family finally got some carers.

What more can I say? It’s a disgusting state of affairs. She deserves the best care. Surely that’s not too much to ask for?

To conclude, I wish Barry Wood’s wife Jeni a speedy recovery from her fall and from her experiences of the NHS. What a nightmare.

I wish Barry well on his nursing duties and tender care of his wife. A failure once again on the NHS’s part.

Let’s hope we get the answers we need on this matter and they re-open the beds and admit they were wrong. — Yours faithfully,

Judith Coy

Crowsley Way, Sonning Common

Simpler solution

Sir — I am baffled as to why there will now be additional double yellow lines in Queen Street, Henley (Standard, February 9).

It’s yet another shining example of skewed thinking by bureaucrats who don’t actually live in the town centre.

Queen Street is currently used as a rat-run by mummies and daddies driving at breakneck speed to deliver or collect their sprogs from school.

Many times I have been forced off my bike while cycling along Queen Street, usually by a speeding “Chelsea Tractor” tail-gating me from the Friday Street junction to the junction with Station Road.

What needs to happen is this:

1. Queen Street to be made one-way from the junction with Station Road with traffic-calming speed-bumps all the way down to the junction with Friday Street.

2. Friday Street to be made completely one-way — with speed bumps — from the junction with Queen Street all the way round to River Terrace, continuing onwards as one-way to the bottom of Station Road as far as the junction with Meadow Road.

3. Station Road should then have speed bumps from the junction with Meadow Road to Wyndale Close/Queen Street.

Simples! — Yours faithfully,

Steve Ludlow

Station Road, Henley

Arrest these ‘boy racers’

Surely it’s illegal to race around a car park or on a public road, so why aren’t these nuisance drivers arrested?

This unacceptable behaviour has happened in various places, not just Henley.

It needs a bigger solution than a few local policemen watching (hopefully not eating Haribos!).

We can hear the noise near Shiplake College and the mad driving along the Reading Road is unbelievable. — Yours faithfully,

Shirley Cooke

Shiplake

Rescuing prescription

Sir, — I would like to thank the staff at Boots in Henley for opening the doors and wading through a flood to get me my mother’s prescription.

The actual shop was deep in water and the ceiling had come down.

The staff were operating an amazing service, providing other people with their prescriptions and trying to keep people safe at the same time. Well done, Boots.— Yours faithfully,

Gail Rosier

Middle Assendon

Revolution’s overdue

Sir, — I agree with William Fitzhugh’s sentiments regarding Britain’s present woes (Standard, February 9).

I was talking to an elderly woman some years ago about the same subject and she said it was because so many of our potential leaders and entrepreneurs had been killed off in both world wars.

This has led to weak, ineffectual government ever since.

A particular concern is our foreign policy. Can you imagine Disraeli, Palmerston or Gladstone allowing our country to be pushed around by all and sundry, especially Europe?

Our House of Commons is virtually unable to pass any legislation, such as the removal of illegal migrants, because of constant obstruction by the House of Lords, aided and abetted by the judiciary.

We are also unbelievably kowtowing to the European courts on this matter, despite having left the EU.

The mess we are in cannot be changed by voting differently, as there is virtually no policy difference in the main parties. We seem to be going the same way as many other once great civilisations, like the Roman empire, Egypt and Greece.

I don’t know what the answer is to our problems, or even if there is a solution. In most other countries there would have been a revolution by now. The British people are utterly fed up with the wretched state of our nation. — Yours faithfully,

Adrian Vanheems

Baskerville Road, Sonning Common

Vote to end Tory rule

Editor, — Despite being unconvinced by William Fitzhugh’s scattershot diagnosis of the nation’s problems and his citing of the Daily Mail-type bogeymen, “liberal-minded judges” and “woke brigade” educationalists, I do so agree with him about the desirability of people using their vote at the forthcoming election.

Unfortunately, we have a government whose attitude to universal suffrage is “so long as the electorate is drawn from the approved demographic”.

As has often been remarked, to that end, the travel documents issued to the over-sixties are acceptable identification to present at polling stations but those held by the young are not.

The (doubtless unworthy) thought occurs: Perhaps the people who dreamt up the 2022 Elections Act thought that older people were more likely to support them? So that Mr Fitzhugh is not disappointed by a low turnout, I urge those voters who don’t have a passport, a driving licence or other approved form of ID and who don’t want to be denied their say in how we are governed, to apply online for a Voter Authority Certificate.

The link is at www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate

Alternatively, applications can be made in person at your local council. There is also a helpline: 0800 328 0280.

Let us hope that enough people vote at the next general election and send packing the authors of this contemptible attempt to gerrymander their way into wielding permanent power over us. — Yours faithfully,

Andy Robertson

Woodcote

No school of hard knocks

Sir, — Education, education, education, Tony Blair cried to thunderous applause in 1996. And, boy, have those educated children made an impact?

Now in their thirties and forties, they are sending their own children to school. If they haven’t opted out of parenthood to save the planet, that is.

And we learn that at school now the curriculum includes nappy changing and brushing teeth.

Of course, some other things have to make way for this modernity, such as sport and fitness where pitches and recreation fields are sold to eager developers in order to cover the costs of repairs, upgrades or just equipment. The three Rs are no longer the letters at the top of the curriculum.

How to be a good, well-rounded individual able to contribute and benefit the community and country is less important now than being able to protest and demonstrate, blame parents for global warming and imperialism, watch TikTok and dream of becoming a social media influencer.

The older generation is definitely to blame for one thing — the desire to make life easier for our children and in so doing deprive them of the schooling which the hardships of life once taught us. — Yours faithfully,

Edward Sierpowski

Henley

Staying safe in Stockholm

I was intrigued and somewhat shocked to read Clive Bassett’s letter about his unfortunate position at being held by the hands of ISIS militants (Standard, February 9).

What a terrifying experience that must have been!

However, as Clive said, as time went on he developed a camaraderie with his captors and even an understanding of their position.

If he’d looked up the classic definition of Stockholm syndrome he’d virtually be reading his own words. I am very glad he was able to relay his experience and didn’t suffer.

Coincidently, I’m travelling to Stockholm soon. Hopefully I’ll be returning un-kidnapped. — Yours faithfully,

Richard Pinches

Henley

Please join toad patrol

Sir, — It’s that time of year again. The weather is warming up and the amphibians are on the move.

Members of the Henley Toad Patrol have leapt into action again with their buckets and torches to help the toads cross the busy Marlow Road.

If you see lots of people in high-viz jackets in the evenings by the Henley Business School, please slow down as we are carrying toads, frogs and newts over to their spawning ground in the lake on the other side of the road.

The more people we have helping, the more amphibians we can save.

It’s such a rewarding thing to do as you know you are directly making a difference to our local wildlife. Last year we saved more than 5,000 toads.

If you are over 18 and fancy getting involved, then please email Angelina Jones on
amtjones@googlemail.com — Yours faithfully,

Jane Rigby

Catslip

Starring nettle dress

Last week, Greener Henley teamed up with the Regal Picturehouse for another Green Screen event, this time showing The Nettle Dress, a surprisingly powerful documentary following one man’s mission to make a dress entirely from nettles, foraged from daily walks with his dog.

Over the seven years that it takes to make the dress, he suffers personal loss and bereavement and the slow, cyclical procedure of foraging, processing, spinning and weaving starts to take on a greater depth as each thread becomes imbued with meaning, magic and emotion.

The sold out screening was followed by a lively panel discussion and Q&A with director Dylan Howitt, local native textile specialist Romilly Swann and Carol Crowdy, chair of the Berkshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers.

But the real star of the show was the actual nettle dress itself, a surprisingly soft and durable garment which begged to be touched and sniffed by everyone who had watched its laborious fabrication. The next Green Screen event is on March 27 at 8pm with a film, Six Inches of Soil, and panel event. — Your faithfully,

Nemone Caldwell

Greener Henley