Long wait on phone for GP appointments

It will come as a surprise to many of your readers that Moredon, and the Abbey Meads Surgeries were judged worthy of an award as best GP practice in Swindon.

It should come as no surprise that it is still the case that when phoning it can take an hour to get through to the practice and a further 15 minutes to get to number one in the queue. At which point you are still likely to find that there are no appointments available.

Incidentally, the number of people allowed to be the queue is set at 20 which means the practice can claim that they never have more than 20 waiting.

Des Morgan

Caraway Drive

Swindon

Take more care over Covid quarantine

The Covid-19 Indian variant is spreading quickly across Britain and is far more infectious than previous strains.

This is very annoying for everyone. We were really looking forward to getting back to normal.

The Indian variant has set Britain back to square one. People are talking about a third wave hitting Britain.

If we are ever to recover from this virus we must stop any new variants coming to Britain.

International travel is causing all our problems at the moment. We need to be a lot more careful about putting travellers onto quarantine when they arrive in Britain.

Steve Halden

Beaufort Green

Swindon

Show support for world's hard working animals

In the UK, we’re fortunate to have running water at our fingertips and food that can be delivered to our doorsteps. But many of the world’s poorest communities rely entirely on working animals to transport water and provide food, through ploughing and carrying produce to market.

Around the world, more than 200 million working horses, donkeys, camels and elephants do the jobs of trucks, tractors and taxis in developing countries. These animals are a lifeline for poverty-stricken families and ensure that basic necessities such as food and water are available.

But all too often, working animals lack the food, water and vital veterinary care they desperately need themselves.

At the Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad), we are carrying out emergency feeding programmes for malnourished animals, building water troughs for animals working in extreme temperatures and providing free veterinary treatment to sick and injured working animals in 28 countries.

On International Working Animal Day (15 June), please find out how you can show your support for these hardworking animals by visiting www.spana.org/workinganimals. 

Dr Ben Sturgeon  

Director of Veterinary Services

Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad

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