Dear Editor,

ON Friday, March 6, the Wellington Medical Centre Patient Group held an extremely good Q&A session with Gideon Amos MP on the NHS and social care.

However, those attending were almost stunned into silence by the front page article 'Medical centre has no space for more patients'.

The article finished 'The Wellington Weekly has asked both the medical centre and NHS Somerset how GP facilities can be expanded and where patients will go in the meantime, but they were unable to respond at the time of going to press.'

This does not fit with the experience of the officers of the group as we have attended meetings at the medical centre along with the town’s elected councillors and NHS Somerset where the practice manager and a representative of the GP partners have fully explained options being considered to expand facilities.

We know staff recruitment is nearly complete to form an expanded team.

Most importantly, the number of GPs has expanded to a base of nine GP partners and eight salaried GPs, although not all full-time.

Expanding physical space will take longer, for example, the old pharmacy was still under lease to Boots until December.

More to the point, it is virtually impossible for a surgery to get permission from the NHS to close their patient list to new patients.

The fact is, Wellington Medical Centre are welcoming new patients and have no intention of closing their list.

What concerns the group’s officers is the article could 'stall' the housing market in Wellington, for buyers will be reluctant to purchase if they are led to believe they will be unable to register at the only GP surgery in town.

John Cutting, Vice-Chair, WMC PPG

With the support of Veronica Tatnall, Chair, WMC PPG

Editor’s note: Mr Cutting’s letter was written without knowledge of this week’s front page article. Mr Cutting and other PPG members are welcome to visit the Wellington Weekly office and see for themselves the approaches made to the medical centre and NHS Somerset, which went unanswered.

Dear Editor,

I, ALONG with many others, received our council tax bill this week.

Included was a statement from Cllr Bill Revans outlining the expenditure for the coming year.

He states the tax increase for this year is 4.99 per cent, £1.78 a week for band D.

Can he, therefore, explain why my increase is £3.16 per week.

By my reckoning 4.99 per cent is a rise of £123.16, but my increase is £164.40 per year.

As pensioners in our 80s there is little value to our lives from services covered by council tax and to see 66 per cent of this is for children and adult social care is very unfair on pensioners, this should be covered in part from national Government.

Barbara Hawkins

Chestnut Close

Wellington

Editor’s note: In defence of Cllr Revans, not that he cannot defend himself, it should be pointed out he is not responsible for increases in town council, police, and fire brigade precepts which are added to his own council’s bill.

Dear Editor,

I WANT to share something I only learned recently, because I think most people genuinely don't know it either.

When a mother cow gives birth to a male calf, that calf has no place in the dairy system.

He cannot produce milk, and he is typically not a breed suited to beef production.

So, he is killed.

Last year in Great Britain, this happened 60,745 times before calves even reached eight months of age – over six every hour, according to figures Animal Aid obtained from the Rural Payments Agency.

The numbers are shocking.

But what also shocked me was where it happens.

More male calves under two months old are killed on farms than in slaughterhouses.

Nearly six in 10 calves killed with no regulatory oversight, within metres of their mothers.

I don’t think most people are heartless.

I think most people simply don’t realise purchasing dairy comes with a devastating consequence, for thousands of male calves, and for the mothers who bring them into the world.

Alex Harman

By email

Dear Editor,

BOWEL cancer is the UK’s fourth most common cancer, and second biggest cancer killer.

We know one way we can reduce our risk of developing bowel cancer is by taking part in regular exercise.

This April, for Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Bowel Cancer UK are encouraging people to do something active every day as part of our ActiveApril campaign.

Whether your readers would like to challenge themselves to reach a fitness goal or get active in their own way, every movement they make in ActiveApril will bring us closer to a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer.

Genevieve Edwards

CEO, Bowel Cancer UK