The Times - UK (2022-04-04)

26 Monday April 4 2022 | the times

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor should be sent to

[email protected] or by post to

1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

well-staffed, trained, motivated and

compassionate and willing to learn

from failings in care.

Donna Ockenden, chairwoman,

the Maternity Review; Dr Edward

Morris, president, Royal College of

Obstetricians and Gynaecologists;

Gill Walton, chief executive, Royal

College of Midwives

Sir, The findings of the Ockenden

review should not come as a surprise.

For decades now, frontline staff have

been caught between a rock and a

hard place. On the one hand there

are social media-fuelled narratives

around childbirth that promote

beliefs and expectations that are

unachievable for today’s maternity

demographic. On the other hand,

staff are subjected to coercive and

dictatorial edicts from their superiors

who know nothing of the operational

aspects of service delivery and focus

entirely on meeting targets. Meanwhile

Nice and the relevant Royal Colleges

continue to issue guidelines that are

simply unworkable in practice.

Unearthing the true state of affairs

would require an in-depth review of

financial incentives offered to trusts

with low caesarean section rates and

consequences for others with high

intervention rates. The career

progression of staff who subscribed

to the prevailing philosophy would

need to be compared with those

who dared to raise concerns. This

ideological disconnect between many

staff and their leaders has resulted in

a national maternity service marred

by discontent, burnout, attrition,

disengagement and ultimately failure

to attract the brightest and the best.

Lorin Lakasing

Consultant in obstetrics, St Mary’s

Hospital, London W2

Sir, There has always been mistrust

between doctors and midwives. There

are two reasons. First, some midwives

feel that they are overshadowed by

doctors. Second, some do not like

having to call in a doctor when a

caesarean becomes necessary. Thus,

“even until 2017 the Royal College of

Midwives maintained a campaign for

‘normal births’ ” (leading article,

Mar 31). Repeated reviews and hand-

wringing will do little to resolve this.

If the roles of midwife and obstetrician

were combined, all, especially

mothers and babies, would benefit.

Peter Ellis

Ret’d ear, nose and throat surgeon;

Frinton-on-Sea, Essex

Refugees in need

Sir, Further to your letters about the

Homes for Ukraine scheme (Mar 30),

I signed up and had interest from a

lady who wanted to come with her

daughter-in-law and granddaughter

but I have just had this message from

her: “Sorry I’m missing. During this

time I studied a lot of information

about moving to England, processing

documents. For many Ukrainians

this has been a great and exhausting

ordeal. I’m afraid we can’t stand it!

Thank you sincerely for your intention

to help.” I’ve lost count of how many

times I’ve had to say I’m ashamed of

the UK approach. I’m also for the first

time in my life ashamed to be British.

Peter Kershaw

Plymouth

Power and the poor

Sir, Caitlin Moran so adroitly

addresses the reality of life in Britain

today (“I don’t think millionaires

should be in charge of poor people’s

budgets. They’re not qualified”,

Magazine, Apr 2). I am “working class

made good” (although that term is a

little too generic for my liking) and

spent my formative years living with

the “nothing” that she so accurately

describes. I have not forgotten my

roots or the memory of nothing. I am

reminded of a comment I overheard

when training to be a solicitor: one

partner remarked to another wistfully

that articled clerks were, like the

poor, always with us. Sadly that “us

and them” mindset appears to remain

endemic in some cases. All politicians

would do well to reflect on her article.

Jeremy Walker

Northampton

Pesky parakeets

Sir, I assume that the area of the

West Midlands in which Valerie

Beaumont-Harris lives is unvisited

by the ring-necked mob-handed

parakeet (letter, Apr 2). If they were

around, no bird under the size of a

peregrine falcon would get a look

in at her generous bird table.

Tom Stubbs

Surbiton, Surrey

Joy in dark times

Sir, Further to Ann Treneman’s article

(“Judge an inn by how well it does in

a power cut”, Notebook, Apr 1), I can

vouch that good things can come

from such hiccups if people grasp the

opportunity. In the winter of 1986

there was a power cut at the Old Well

pub in Barnard Castle. Candles came

out and the beer kept flowing. The

main job of Helen Brown, the barmaid,

was working for a local theatre

company. She decided to keep us all

entertained by organising a game of

charades. As everybody had so much

fun she decided to form an amateur

dramatic group. And 36 years later

that group, the Castle Players, is still

going strong, performing Shakespeare

to outdoor audiences of thousands in

summer as well as touring. All thanks

to a power cut and a bright idea.

Angus Wheeler

Darlington

Sea legs on board

Sir, Further to the letters about

mispronounced names (Apr 1 &

Mar 29), in his youth my husband

spent some time on a German sail

training ship. The captain always

referred to him as Aching Thighs.

Cylvean Aitken-Sykes

Fordingbridge, Hants

Corrections and

clarifications

The Times takes
complaints
about editorial
content seriously. We are committed to
abiding by the Independent Press
Standards Organisation (“IPSO”) rules
and regulations and the Editors’ Code of
Practice that IPSO enforces.
Requests for corrections or
clarifications should be sent by email to
[email protected] or by post to
Feedback, The Times, 1 London Bridge
Street, London SE1 9GF

Oxford rape claim

Sir, We write in response to the
letter from Alan Rusbridger, former
principal of Lady Margaret Hall
(LMH), Oxford (Apr 2). We feel it is
shocking that Rusbridger describes
Olivia’s gagging clause as a request
to “refrain from public comments”
when it came with a direct threat to
expel her and destroy her education.
It is noted that, under Rusbridger’s
leadership, the college failed in its
duty to report serious allegations
of sexual violence at LMH to the
Charity Commission (report, Apr 2).
Most concerningly, Rusbridger has
completely ignored the whole point of
the original article (“Oxford college
silenced student who claimed she was
raped”, Apr 1), which is that this was
not about just one case. The Times
spoke to eight women (and more
have subsequently come forward)
about their experiences. There was a
culture of disbelieving and silencing
survivors, which Rusbridger has
failed to acknowledge.
It is incredibly upsetting that
Rusbridger has reacted in this way.
It contrasts with the universities
minister, who is demanding urgent
action, and the Charity Commission,
which is in contact with the college
about why it failed to report the
allegations.
Olivia, Emma (not the students’ real
names), Ffion Samuels, representative
of It Happens Here Oxford

Maternity scandal and pressures on NHS staff

Sir, In response to your report

(“Childbirth ‘is not safe for women

in England’ ”, Mar 31), we want to

provide reassurance about the

maternity services in this country.

The Ockenden review did find

repeated failures in the quality of care

and governance within the maternity

services at Shrewsbury and Telford

Hospital NHS Trust, and there are

essential and immediate actions that

are required to ensure these are never

repeated. However, it is important to

recognise that the UK is one of the

safest places in the world to give birth,

demonstrated by annual reductions

in stillbirth rates. Multidisciplinary

teams working within maternity

services are more skilled than ever in

detecting and taking urgent action

when things go wrong. Crucially,

staff numbers to provide safe care

are needed and we are pleased that

the health secretary accepted

the findings of the review in full.

For too long the government and

NHS have ignored recommendations

that seek to address the structural

problems of under-staffing, poor

working environments and lack of

board oversight. The legacy of this

review should be a national maternity

service that is appropriately funded,

Sir, The government is failing to

deliver on its repeated promises to

get rid of unnecessary European

Union regulations. It is also not

responding to requests from British

industry. As chairman of a regional

housebuilding company I wrote to the

government in March last year about

the mortgage credit directive, which

imposes significant costs on our firm

even though we do not supply

mortgages. The government resisted

this EU directive when it was first

implemented, saying that it was

unnecessary and expensive, but has

done nothing to repeal or amend it.

Eight months after writing I

received a weak and evasive reply

from a Treasury minister which

entirely ignored the points in my

letter. I have written to Michael

Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg but

have received no reply.

I conclude that the public sector

is controlled by officials who guard

the big state. This is disillusioning

for those of us who campaigned

for Brexit in the knowledge that a

self-governing Britain could get rid

of burdensome regulations and

Cut the red tape

make us fit for the rigours of world

competition. This will not happen

until we get ministers who grip their

departments and have more respect

for the private sector, which provides

the goods, employment and taxes

on which everything else depends.

David Heathcoat-Amory

Chairman, Devonshire Homes;

MP for Wells, 1983-2010

from the times april 4, 1922

DEATHS FROM

EXPOSURE IN

HEAVY SNOW

Energy flows

Sir, Further to James Forsyth’s article

(“Spineless MPs are sapping our

energy needs”, Comment, Apr 1, and

letters, Apr 2), there is a shovel-ready

renewable energy project that has

strong local support: a tidal lagoon

in Swansea. When the sun does not

shine and there is no wind, the tide

still goes in and out every day. If

this project had been completed as

intended, I believe the UK would be

less dependent on imported gas and

would be paying less for its energy

than at present. The project is still

ready to go. We need a prime minister

with vision in securing cheap, green

and reliable energy for the UK.

Michael McCabe

Swansea

Sir, I was disappointed to learn the

government has delayed the closure

of two fracking wells near Blackpool

(report, Apr 1). I wonder if MPs would

be as keen on fracking if it were their

houses that started shaking as mine

did on August 26, 2019? The earth

tremor, magnitude 2.9, was a direct

result of fracking a few miles from my

house. For me, and most people in

Blackpool, fracking is a non-starter.

Terry Westhead

Blackpool

thetimes.co.uk/archive

Local elections

Sir, Matt Chorley writes of Sir Keir
Starmer launching Labour’s local
election campaign and his “plan for
a better future, a better Britain”
(“ ‘Peepul’ have lost interest in
soporific Starmer, the building society
boss”, Comment, Apr 2). These
elections seem to have morphed into
national political campaigns. There
was a time when local people were
elected for local matters. Perhaps
it’s time to get back to the past.
Local councillors should not be
meddling in national politics and
members of parliament, such as
Starmer, should not be suggesting
that a vote for a Labour councillor
in a local election will be a vote for
“a better Britain”. The vote should
be about roads, parks and other
amenities.
Stan Hogarth
Strathaven, South Lanarkshire

Wartime spirit

Sir, Those of us who grew up during

the Second World War remember the

hardships — and the way we coped.

There was no such thing as central

heating, so we went to bed in an

old cardigan over our pyjamas and a

stone hot water bottle for our feet.

We never saw such things as a banana

or orange for years. But we adapted

and we survived. In this cost-of-living

crisis, we now have to decide what

is important and what we can do

without. We can’t always expect the

government to bail us out.

Margaret Postlethwaite

Warton, Lancs

Letters to The Times must be
exclusive and may be edited.
Please include a full address and
daytime telephone number.

Exceptionally severe weather for so

late in the year continued over the

greater part of Central and Southern

England yesterday. Further heavy

snow storms were experienced over

a very wide area, the falls in many

places continuing throughout the

day, with dislocation of traffic and

interruption of telegraphic

communication in various regions.

The trans-Channel aerial services

were suspended, and a large number

of sporting fixtures had to be

abandoned. In the Swindon district

country roads were impassable. At

Reading the damage occasioned by

the storm is estimated at thousands

of pounds; in one street almost all

the glass-fronted verandahs were

demolished. Around Swansea there

were drifts 8ft deep, and from

Pontypool a depth of 3ft is reported.

Several bodies were recovered from

the drifts yesterday. Twenty

thousand miners and ironworkers

found it impossible to proceed to

work and industries are practically

at a standstill. Although the snow

melted as it fell in the metropolis

many of the outlying districts were

thickly carpeted. The slopes of

Hampstead Heath were covered to a

depth of about three inches, and

tobogganing was in progress. The

snow was accompanied by unusually

low temperature for the time of year.

At Malvern the thermometer did not

rise above 33deg. Several places

registered more than 15deg of frost

at night. On the south coast heavy

rain fell, and the day was decidedly

milder, a number of the health

resorts, including Eastbourne and

Torquay, recording temperatures of

50deg. This was due to the fact that

the wind became south-westerly for

a time in the afternoon. Conditions

in the Southern Midland counties

yesterday afternoon recalled the

blizzard of April 25, 1908, when the

ground was covered by between 12

and 18 inches of undrifted snow. A

continuance of the wintry weather is

predicted.

The body of John Jones, a farmer

who had been missing since Friday,

was found in the snow on the

mountainside near Banwen

yesterday. A farmer of Pontardawe,

David John Davies, who was caught

in the storm on Saturday, was found

dead under the snow. David Evans, a

farm labourer, of Cowbridge, and

John Francis, a tinplate worker, of

Llanelly, died from exposure.