Letters: Capital becoming a shrine to the trade of hoteliers

It’s a pity that the former home of one of Edinburgh’s famous sons is to be turned into a hotel (News, February 15). Robert Stevenson was an engineer renowned for overseeing the development of lighthouses in the 19th century.

It says much that council planners are happy to turn their backs on Edinburgh’s proud past to create yet another hotel. Does Edinburgh really need more hotel rooms?

If we are to create more accommodation in the city, why not do so for the homeless and the low-paid?

It seems the Capital, once a city of great individuals in the arts, engineering and science, is now a city dedicated to the hotel trade.

It would be a nice gesture if the developer in charge of the new hotel project set apart a section of the building, or the land in which it stands, for a museum to inform tourists and indeed Edinburgh folk of the deeds of Stevenson.

That way at least the firm which will convert the building could be said to be making a contribution to Edinburgh’s culture and heritage, rather than just the pursuit of profit.

Ken Welsh, Easter Road, Edinburgh

Civil Service is a British institution

MARTIN Hannan (Time we nicked force HQ for us, News, February 12) speaks of the Scottish Civil Service. No such organisation exists.

All civil servants in Scotland, England and Wales work for the British Civil Service, though Northern Ireland, for historical reasons, does have its own, separate civil service, the NICS.

About 50,000 civil servants work in Scotland, of whom less than 10,000 actually report to Holyrood or its agencies, such as the Prison Service.

The overwhelming bulk of Scottish civil servants, such as the MoD, pensions, tax and revenue, benefits, Jobcentre and customs staff, are the responsibility of the respective Whitehall departments. Martin Hannan seems not to know this.

James Chisholm, Clifford Road, North Berwick, East Lothian

Beautiful foxes are part of nature

SHAME on pest control specialists who are urging a partial cull of urban foxes amid claims their numbers are soaring (News, February 12).

Experts claim rubbish left on the streets is to blame for a boom in complaints about the feral foxes because bins are emptied fortnightly when they should be emptied weekly.

These beautiful creatures are not aggressive and are part of our natural world. It is only natural for them to look for food.

I hope the cull will not come to pass.

June Fleming, Hercus Loan, Musselburgh

Matrons would sort out problems

THE story headlined “No-one deserves to die like this” (News, February 11) made distressing reading. The National Health Service which was once the envy of the world no longer exists.

What and who is responsible for this rapid decline? Where have all the dedicated nurses gone? Have all the Florence Nightingales vanished?

There is one very simple solution – bring back the matron. Her duty would be to inspect every ward each day, with a fist of iron, with another formidable matron on the night shift, making absolutely sure that each patient is given tender love and care with an abundance of dignity.

There would be an immediate transformation. Bring back the matrons now.

Sylvia M DeLuca, Baberton Park, Juniper Green, Edinburgh

Good news about care in hospital

THERE has been a lot of bad press about NHS hospitals and I thought I would write about the positive side.

I had to have a major operation in January. It was with some trepidation that I entered the ERI, as several people had also said that I would need to have food brought in and the service would not be good at all, so be prepared They were all wrong!

I could not fault anyone or anything. From the minute I arrived I was treated so well. Everyone was so reassuring (I was a very nervous patient) and my sincere thanks go to Mr P Lamb and his excellent team and all the nurses and staff on ward 107 for looking after me so well.

Nothing seemed too much trouble and the food was superb as well. Thank you.

Penelope Warren, Edinburgh