A lady from Staincross wrote to me, after reading my piece about my missing bracelet presumably and how kind someone was to hand it in. The lady found a good quality cream coat in her garden which may have blown off a washing line and she’s been trying to relocate the owner of it for weeks. So if you’re reading this and thinking ‘that’s where it went’ and you can prove it’s yours, can you please give the Chron office a ring on 01226 734262.
It has been a source of great amusement to my family that I am now classed as a senior. I have councillor Kevin Osborne to thank for alerting me to the fact that I was eligible at sixty for a senior railcard. I told him that I wasn’t having anything with ‘senior’ on it in my house, then I realised how much brass I could save because I use trains a lot. And free prescriptions – that’s also saved me a bit.
The tag ‘senior’ has brought me a bit low, if I’m honest, but I just hope that when that ‘senior’ segues into ‘pensioner’ that I am as energised and sparky as some of the pensioners that appeared on last week’s letters page.
Firstly Ronnie Steele fighting for all his neighbours who have lost their regular bus service which has disturbed all of their lives in a way that those of us still driving or able to walk a distance might have to pause and study to understand. And Wombwell warrior, the pluckiest of the plucky, Mr David Hunt who absolutely wasn’t going to let his local councillors off with their comebacks to a previous letter.
Robert Frost accused him of not doing his homework. ‘I do do my homework,’ Mr Hunt refuted and I blimming bet he does as well. And how! Then he went for their jugular. James Higginbottom alleged he made a blatant political attack but, back comes Mr Hunt with a perfectly aimed épée riposte to puncture his argument, ‘I’m not a member of any political party – in fact I voted these two in last time!!!’. Touché, game, set and match to Mr Hunt, who will not be putting his cross at the side of those two names this year. Old school and thorough. If only these two generals were on the ballot papers – they’d have my crosses in my thickest black Sharpie.
A relative had to go to Northern General recently and their booking in procedure for the next appointment is so bad that even the doctors he complained to were shaking their heads about it. But they were stuck with it and all because the system has had to change to accommodate the many many people who make an appointment and then don’t turn up for it. If you can’t make it – cancel.
People who are no-shows are taking up appointment space that someone else could have had. You might think it’s no big deal deliberately not turning up but the impact on the service is so much more: increases healthcare costs, unused staff time and then everyone will start moaning that the NHS isn’t running efficiently. We could help it. So please, if you can’t make an appointment, cancel it. It’s a much bigger deal not to than you want to imagine it is.
