It pays to shop around for private health

I was shocked to find that self-funding fees for the same diagnostic tests could vary so radically from one local private hospital to another.

Our extremely helpful NHS GP wrote a referral letter for my husband to have a chest CT scan privately as he’d been on an NHS waiting list since April and we wanted to press on.

He referred us initially to Clare Park, where they quoted £735. They told me this is their flat fee, regardless of whether it is a scan with ‘contrast dye’ or not. So, I shopped around.

Amazingly, several hospitals quoted much lower (and some higher too). Fees for the specific scan my husband needs (I meticulously checked we were comparing like-for-like) vary between £400 at Mount Alvernia and more than £1,000 at Nuffield in Guildford.

What’s more, where you have the diagnostic test in no way limits where you see a consultant with the result. So, it was an easy decision, and it pays to shop around.

Name and address supplied

Farnham

Donations help families avoid heartbreak

A big thank you for saving your postage stamps over the past year. Please carry on helping me support the Lullaby Trust.

This charity raises awareness of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), offers emotional support for bereaved families including their CONI (Care of the Next Infant) scheme and provides expert advice on safer sleep for babies. This can make the difference between happiness and heartbreak for countless families.

Please send to the Lullaby Trust, c/o 16 Oak Drive, Broadway Park, The Causeway, Petersfield, GU31 4LX. Your contributions, however large or small, are welcome throughout the year.

Anna Cromwell

The Causeway

Petersfield

Cash for voters could shake up elections

Let’s face it, Labour has the unions, Tories have big business. Let’s break the mould.

Ban such donations. Instead, the government should allocate let’s say £500 to each voting person before each general election. That person could then donate this money to his political party or parties as chosen. By-elections could be similar.

This would cost about £20 million plus administration. It needs to be introduced over a few elections. Beneficial?

J S Riddalls

Park Road

Farnham

Kings Pond public outcry is being ignored

Alton Town Council has announced the public will now be ‘briefed’ on Kings Pond. Our concern is honesty, it was in short supply last time around and having read the latest update, we cannot help but feel that a pattern is emerging. We are to be talked at and not listened to, but can we be surprised when councillors have already ignored petitions and a huge public outcry?

These ‘briefings’ are announced at short notice in the cold, dark and wet winter months, all of which are on Tuesdays, with only one in the evening. This means most working people will have just the one opportunity to attend. The biggest insult to residents most local to the pond: two of the three sessions are about as far always as possible in the town from the pond, so the people using the facility most are being disadvantaged. It’s almost as though the council don't want people there!

We have a council that don't care or want to represent local people. We contacted our two councillors ago regarding a gentleman who gave up countless hours clearing blanket weed from Kings Pond during the outbreak where the council had failed to manage the situation. He had water levels reduced in a day and stayed on top of the situation. Whilst rightly hailed on Facebook for his efforts, we asked that he was recognised publicly through a mayoral award. Whilst both councillors replied, neither appear to have done anything about it, there's no record of his efforts in the public domain and one can only wonder if this is an aversion to recognising those who care about Kings Pond.

This undemocratic behaviour is not isolated to Kings Pond. The shambolic Neighbourhood Plan meeting saw many residents irate that the council was again not listening and a vote to prevent the current plan from progressing was only marginal, with half of the councillors present that night not voting with public sentiments despite allegedly being our ‘representatives’. There is more evidence that they are not listening to how residents feel and as long as this continues there will be local discontent. The way this is dealt with isn't by being responsive to feeling, but reactive. Those who speak out are treated so poorly and we speak from personal experience.

We acknowledge councillors are unpaid but we need to stop making excuses. They are elected representatives and public servants. They are there to be the voice of residents in local government. Where they are failing, which they are, we must and should speak out. There should be 13 heads hanging in shame right now, but there won't be, as that would mean listening to a town of frustrated and very upset residents.

Linda and Michael Smith

Manor Road

Alton