List of crumbling schools based on out of date data

I DO not know who is more to blame for your inaccurate story on "crumbling schools" (News, October 2). Is it George Foulkes MSP with his caricatures of schools? Is it the city council for failing to update five-year-old surveys of schools?

There are a few schools in the city with well-documented problems of fabric and suitability. But I find it absurd that the Evening News should include in the list schools like my own, Craiglockhart, based on information that is years out of date.
The staff, parents and children at Craiglockhart are immensely proud of our classic Edwardian building.

Our PA has raised tens of thousands of pounds to fund a series of much-loved improvements to the playground.

The classrooms are bright and airy and home to the best that modern teaching methods and equipment can provide.

Of course, the school estate, and not least its older buildings, needs constant improvement and maintenance.

But before MSPs and journalists throw the baby out with the bathwater, maybe they need to get out and actually see the schools they are talking about.
Gavin Corbett, Chair, Craiglockhart PS Parent Council, Ashley Terrace, Edinburgh

Fiddling of facts is a moral failure
THE council's fiddling of the facts over the condition of schools such as Portobello High is indicative of its deliberate stalling of the urgently needed replacement programme for schools in this city.

This is not just a political failure, it is a moral one.
Richard Butt, Marlborough Street, Edinburgh

Brown invites a cuckoo into nest
IF ever there were a sign that a government is in its death throes, surely it has to be the appointment by Gordon Brown of Peter Mandelson back into the Cabinet – a man who has already been forced to resign from government twice for his lack of morals in his financial and ministerial dealings.

Isn't this the appointment of a morally and politically bankrupt politician by a morally and politically bankrupt Labour Party and its leader?

Isn't it outrageous that any unelected individual can sit in the Cabinet? How does this satisfy the fundamental democratic principle that we are governed by those whom we elect?

Given Mandelson's track record as an architect of Blair's New Labour vision, and his renowned opposition to Brown, haven't we just witnessed a cuckoo being encouraged into the nest?

Can there be any doubt who the cuckoo will eject from the nest?
Jim Taylor, The Murrays Brae, Edinburgh

Drama not about breaking bad news
I AM writing following your story 'Medics off into theatre .. this time for lessons in acting' (News, September 30).

The article suggests that a recent NHS Lothian conference gave nurses and medical staff acting classes to learn how to give bad news to patients. This is incorrect.

I believe the story missed the point of the conference and the important work being done to improve patient care and support carers.

Staff attended a one-day event where a drama was used to convey the importance of eye contact when dealing with all patients and relatives on a daily basis.

It was designed as part of our four-year Compassionate Care project, which underpins our commitment to improving the overall patient experience in NHS Lothian.

The play focused on eye contact and was just one of the many projects being used to strengthen the relationship between staff, patients and their families.

It did not at any time give guidance on how staff should approach bereaved relatives or deliver news of a serious illness.

Around 100 NHS Lothian staff watched the drama, in which a worried relative became upset when the busy nurse she was trying to attract avoided her gaze as she tended to her vital duties.

The relative was desperate to have a reassuring chat with the nurse about her mother's condition, but every time she tried she could not catch the nurse's eye.

It gave staff the opportunity to see how eye contact could act as a prelude to conversation.

Staff saw that the small gesture instantly made them more approachable and open to patients and relatives.

The event was about knowledge exchange and acted as a forum for experts and staff to sharing different methods to boost the treatment and care of patients.
Heather Tierney-Moore, director of nursing, NHS Lothian

Belief in afterlife is no great surprise
WHAT is so surprising in JK Rowling's statement that she believes in life after death (News, October 2)? Christianity has always taught that there is life after death: "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (Gospel of John 3:16). That means a new quality of life now – and life after death!

As the apostle Paul said: "If our hope in Christ is good for this life only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world. But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised" (1 Corinthians 15:19-20).
Ian McHaffie, Granton Road, Edinburgh