Common Sense

 

Summer at Cowes
Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942)
Photo Credit: Manchester Art Gallery [CC BY-NC-ND]

Sir, I am at a loss to understand the panic being stirred up regarding a few days of heat. It appears we are in for  very high temperatures on Monday and Tuesday, [July] followed by a drop of about 10 degrees on Wednesday. We are advised to take extreme care, make sure children are "safe", drink lots of water etc. Do they think we are stupid?

In 1976 we had snow in Buxton on the first weekend of June. Two weeks later on June 23, a heatwave hit many parts of the country, with temperatures above 30C. That heatwave didn't end until August 27. Yes, some areas had problems with water supply, but guess what, people went to work, children went to school or played outside.

By using common sense, two words which appear to have vanished from use these days, I am sure a couple of hot days will be bearable.

(Richard Madin, Buxton, The Times, 2022)

Wonderful to hear that there are glimmers of sanity left in the country.

Sir, Your photograph of Margate shows that thousands of people, having heard the health warnings of desolation and death, decided that it was actually what used to be known as a "lovely summer's day" and went to the beach.

(Richard Tweed, Croydon, Surrey, The Times, 2022)

Is somebody checking if Prince Andrew has been sweating?

(John Webb, Eltham, London, The Guardian, 2022)

The Doctor
Luke Fildes (1843-1927)
Photo Credit: Tate  [CC BY-NC-ND]

Sir, The government keeps telling us that it is throwing more money at the NHS but we still have hospitals full of bed blockers due to our inability to move frail patients into care or their homes, and we still have shortages of doctors and nurses. There must be practical solutions. My suggestion is to use hotels as temporary cottage hospitals with hotel staff providing housekeeping services and doctors and nurses providing medical care.

Where do we get those doctors and nurses? Use retired NHS staff tempted back by the offer of tax-free salaries and the provision of any necessary professional indemnity insurances.

Fixing the NHS's bed-blocking crisis, lies at the heart of many of the NHS's problems. Deal with that and many of the other issues become manageable.

(Kevin Miller, Chard, Somerset, The Times, 2022)

On acting - Richard Burton to fellow actor Gabriel Byrne.

"Give it all you've got, but never forget it's just a bloody movie. We're not curing cancer."

(The Observer, 2022)

Foundry Scene
unknown artist
Photo Credit: Derby Museums [CC  BY-NC-SA]

Diane Coyle, Bennet professor of public policy at Cambridge and a director of the Productivity Institute.

"The UK's productivity is low but that has nothing to do with how hardworking or lazy people are. It grows when workers have better equipment and software to work with."

(The Observer, 2022)