US Edition SIR – I agree with Professor Millard's concern (Letters, September 3) about patients being terminally sedated and dispatched before their time.
Three years ago my Mother, aged 88, had a mild stroke and was admitted to hospital on a very hot day. She became increasingly dehydrated. A drip was inserted and she became more alert.
We were told that an epigastric feed would be inserted, but after several days there was no sign of this, and a young doctor informed us it was not going to be.
We had a meeting with several staff who tried to persuade us it would be kinder "to let Mum go", and that not being fed and watered was a gentle way to die. We insisted on the feeding tube, and my mother had three active years of extra life.
How many other patients' relatives thought that the medical profession knew best and gave permission for withholding food and drink?
Jean Thornton
London SE1
SIR – Over the past 30 years I have had the misfortune to watch several of my relatives suffer long, slow and extremely painful deaths from incurable disease.
I have also had pets who have been stricken with similar diseases.
You do not have to be Einstein to deduce which group suffered less and died with their dignity preserved.
In my opinion the animals are allowed to be treated with more compassion and humanely in that their "biological lives" are not prolonged unnecessarily.
John G. Randall
Wigan, Lancashire
SIR – I do not believe there is a "nationwide wave of discontent" regarding terminal management and the Liverpool Care Pathway in particular.
I examine 60 deceased patients a year to complete Part 5 of the new, very robust cremation forms on behalf of a hospice. Doctors signing Part 4 have to explain in detail why patients needed the care given.
I also speak to the nearest relative and nursing staff where possible, and in none of the last 60 cases were they in any way critical of the management given.
Furthermore, relatives can examine cremation forms under the new rules and raise concerns if they wish.
My observations are that hospice patients were no more dehydrated than others. I want to reassure readers there is no culture of "tick-box medicine" in use.
Dr R. A. Davies
Chelmsford, Essex
SIR – The Government is "investing £286 million" over the next couple of years to implement the Liverpool Pathway strategy for those thought to be dying.
Let's see ... elderly person, unable to communicate + dehydration + heavy sedation + cash-strapped government = death.
As they say in America, "Do the math".
Ann Farmer
Woodford Green, Essex
Ghost villages
SIR – It is too simplistic to blame the closure of village schools solely upon an alleged shortage of affordable housing (Letters, September 3).
Many villages lack the attractions for commuters and second-home owners. They too are affected by the movement of their young to areas where they can seek employment, entertainment and a partner.
The mechanisation of farming and rising transport costs have denuded the countryside of employment opportunities, although paradoxically commuters and second-home owners support the building trade. Unfortunately, many of the young who remain in villages are unemployable, single mothers and on benefits. Buying their own home is usually not an option, whether “affordable” or not.
Russell Hopkins
Newport, Pembrokeshire
In the dark
SIR – There are two disadvantages to low energy lamps (Letters, September 2) which may not be well-known. Packaging on some lamps warns that they are unsuitable for use with electronic switches, such as timers, which one might use for security purposes while away from home. Manufacturers say it’s due to interference between the circuits in the controlling device and the lamp.
I have also found that some low energy lamps won’t work at all in external lighting when the weather is cold.
John Edwards
Spaxton, Somerset
Dry Britain
SIR – Before the Second World War there were plenty of drinking fountains (Letters, September 2) all over the country but they were removed to conserve water. Clearly, they should have been replaced.
Bill Barrett
Kenton, Suffolk
Lock up your drunks
SIR – Detective Inspector Gordon’s plea (Letters, September 3) for street drunks to be dealt with under existing provisions of the law is spot on. Perhaps we should look at a solution still in evidence today – the “lock-up”. Here in Somerset, Castle Cary, Pensford, Kingsbury Episcopi, Monkton Combe and Buckland Dinham still possess their own lock-ups for ne’er-do-wells and miscreants.
Constructed in the mid-18th century these facilities were used to house drunks and petty criminals until they could be seen by the magistrate. The facilities for prisoners included a locked door, a cold stone floor, solid walls and plenty of time to reflect on the error of their ways.
Rod Morris
Rodney Stoke, Somerset
School dash
SIR – The school run started again on Wednesday. At 8.30am, I was doing 70mph on the A5 through Milton Keynes when I was overtaken by a people carrier with four children in the back and the driver shouting and gesticulating.
I would like her to explain why she had a sticker in the back informing that there was a "baby on board”.
Peter Walton
Moreton, Buckinghamshire
Megrahi and the Scots
SIR – The institutional inequity of Scottish MPs voting on English issues can never have been more powerfully shown than in the Megrahi affair, constitutionally pitting a Scottish Executive against a British Government – with the added injustice of our Prime Minister representing a constituency in Scotland and without an English mandate.
Was David Cameron right in declaring Conservative policy “wrong” to oppose devolution in this form?
Timothy Bradshaw
Oxford
SIR – I am pleased that Simon Heffer (Comment, September 2) has turned his ire where it belongs: on to the mischief-maker, Alex Salmond. Mr Heffer’s talents should now be directed toward supporting Mr Salmond’s promised referendum on Scottish independence before a general election. Call his bluff and embarrass him deeply; the Scots would love to slap him down on this issue.
Not that I, a Scot, would be allowed a vote, being domiciled in England.
Michael Phillips
Lavendon, Buckinghamshire
SIR – Surely the debate on Megrahi should have taken place before his release, not when he is safely ensconced back in Libya?
Tony Fenlon
Girdle Toll, Ayrshire
Bookshelf diagnosis
SIR – The trouble with Gill Hornby’s observations (Comment, September 2) on the bookshelves of Phillip Garrido, the kidnap suspect, is that this sort of thing only works with hindsight.
For instance, it became well known after the events leading to his incarceration that Charles Manson’s favourite books were The Beatles’ Songbook, The Revelation of St John the Divine, and R.A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. (This last is a novel of epic silliness, in which the hero proves to be an avatar of St Michael.)
I imagine the Beach Boys knew Manson’s tastes, but they never put two and two together to predict mass murder, nor could they have been expected to.
As my own shelves are heavy with Brian Aldiss, Poul Anderson, Larry Niven, Robert Rankin, Jack Vance and Roger Zelazny, it can be predicted that I’m a man of excellent taste, into science fiction, irreligious, heterosexual, Right-wing, old, and a thoroughly good egg.
C.N. Gilmore
Bedford
Reasons behind Chamberlain’s delay in declaring war
SIR – Neil Tweedie (Features, September 3) implies that “years of appeasing Adolf Hitler” only ended with the declaration of war on September 3.
Chamberlain consistently followed what would today be called a twin-track approach. Since becoming Prime Minister in 1937 he had spent more on defence than anyone in British history. When Hitler occupied Prague in March 1939, Chamberlain saw that the possibility of reaching an agreement no longer existed. At that moment he gave the guarantee to Poland which led to war six months later.
The delay in declaring war after the invasion of Poland had two causes. First, France wanted time to evacuate Paris and the border areas with Germany. Second, Mussolini proposed a conference to reach a peaceful solution. That initiative collapsed at 9.30pm on September 2.
While a violent thunderstorm raged above No 10, the British Cabinet met at 11.30pm to agree its final ultimatum.
Alistair Cooke
London SW1