The danger is that this negativity then becomes self-fulfilling: more negative articles undermine staff morale, staff leave, the service gets worse, and more negative articles from Mr Maciver result.

I’m not suggesting that the NHS is perfect (is any large organisation?) but every day it achieves things that even 10 years ago would have been thought impossible. So can we not focus more upon the many incredible things that the NHS achieves and the impact it has upon individuals and society, rather than continual gloom and doom?

Keith Hayton, Glasgow.

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• I have been very lucky up until now never to have been admitted to hospital but it makes me so angry to hear that corridor care has become an everyday reality in hospitals (“‘Corridor care now everyday life’”, The Herald, October 20). The Royal College of Nursing in Scotland concluded that one in five nursing staff are providing care to patients in corridors, waiting rooms and cupboards on a daily basis. A further 13% of staff said they did it weekly.

Apart from the obvious practical matters such as not being able to access cardiac monitors etc, there is the lack of privacy and dignity that being treated in a corridor entails.

The current Health Secretary, Neil Gray, just like all his SNP predecessors, doesn’t have the foggiest how to solve this issue, merely throwing more money at the NHS.

On March 27 this year, John Swinney at FMQs said: “Let me make it clear to the Parliament that I do not accept that – rather, I will not tolerate it. I will not normalise corridor care.” Broken promises yet again, Mr Swinney. At what cost to the dignity and safety of Scotland’s citizens?

Jane Lax, Aberlour.

From Leith Walk to Byres Road

Kevin McKenna (“Chaos, cursing and a very near miss: is the mayhem on Byres Road really worth it?”, The Herald, May 18) writes about the facelift for Byres Road in Glasgow which will incorporate new “protected” cycle paths. That’ll be protection for cyclists rather than pedestrians I presume. The main photo in Kevin’s report looks very similar to a now-infamous road in Edinburgh. Just under two years ago, I wrote to The Herald regarding Leith Walk, where Edinburgh City Council had created a horrendous concoction of zig-zagging cycle paths, pavements, continuous footway junctions and tramways. In years gone by, before our councils became obsessed with cycle lanes, it was a pleasure for families to stroll along the wide pavements of Leith Walk browsing in shop windows. Now it’s a significant risk for the public due to speeding cyclists, especially those delivering food on huge electric bikes. In February 2024 the Edinburgh Evening News reported that the Leith Walk cycle lane was “an accident waiting to happen” and claimed it had been named “the worst bike lane in the world”. Quite an accolade! Around that same time, your columnist John McLellan likened Leith Walk to a “real-life Grand Theft Auto with scoring for near misses with pedestrians”. Byres Road could well be another edition.

Brian Watt, Edinburgh.

Milk: the whole story

Your article on whole milk (“Why drinking whole milk is fashionable again in Scotland”, The Herald, October 20) left me thinking that there was not enough emphasis on the difference between whole milk and raw milk.

Many years ago when my uncle owned a farm and I “helped” from time to time I wondered why they never drank the milk, although it was used in the tea.

Six years later working in a hospital laboratory I discovered why: brucellosis, the reason for my sweating nights and aching bones.

While on holiday in France on a farm my wife became very unwell; again my laboratory connections played out well: E.coli infection.

There is a distinct difference between raw milk and whole milk and it is a relief to see that Mossgiel’s milk is gently pasteurised and is whole and not raw.

Tom Law, Sandbank, Argyll and Bute.

Whole milk is good; raw milk is not(Image: PA)

The waiting game

Kristy Dorsey’s piece on Nairn Golf Club’s archive (“‘Priceless’ putters to ‘simple’ stymie sticks: The archive at Nairn Golf Club”, The Herald, October 17) reminded me of the club’s well-known and respected professional of the 1960s, Gregor McKintosh. McKintosh sat on a shooting stick when teaching, and insisted that pupils should always finish with what he called a “good one”.

A club professional to whom I recounted this story wondered how long some of the lessons might have lasted. Hence the shooting stick?

David Miller, Milngavie.

In possession of the facts

Although Dundee won Sunday’s football match at Dens Park by 2-0, the stats suggest that Celtic had 82% possession.

But not 90%. So we can’t say that possession was nine-tenths of the baw.

Mark Ewing, Edinburgh.