Tragic response rate

We know that winter brings additional problems to the NHS but so far the weather has been relatively kind.

At the same time in England the Coalition government appears to be fiddling the rules when Hospital Trusts can declare an emergency. What a mess.

Meanwhile apart from Plaid Cymru the main Westminster parties are hell bent on continuing the failed policy of austerity. Both Labour and the Tories are pledged to cut a further £33 billion from health, schools and transport.

Despite special pleading about the level of demand for ambulances, demand should not be a surprise to the Labour Government. Winter comes every year after all.

Although the number of calls was high during December, it was only 3% higher than the December of 2012. This should have been within the range of calls the service was prepared for, and should have been anticipated.

The number of people who attended a major A+E unit was actually below the average for the month. There were 62,000 attendances to major A+E units in December yet - this is below the average monthly rate of 65,000.

The pressures come from the fact we have an older population that needs more intensive treatment. It is not due to surges in people coming through the front door with trivial conditions, as Labour would have us believe.

The reality is that winter pressures within the NHS have been what any competent planner should have expected.

We know that our hospitals see more older people in winter as a result of the weather.

They need more intensive treatment than other types of patients. Therefore we should ensure our hospitals were adequately staffed to cope with these predictable problems.

If we recruited a 1,000 more doctors, more nurses, and invested in more paramedics the NHS could cope with the demand. Unfortunately only Plaid Cymru is supporting this policy.

CHRIS FRANKS

Dinas Powys