It appeared to us that the council, iwi and district health board should be assisting Dr Thadigiri in his efforts rather than putting obstacles in his way. It would be a devastating blow for the suburb and for the patients who rely on the Castlecliff Health Centre if he decided to go elsewhere and the centre was closed.
We trust that the relevant agencies will work together and prevent this from happening.
SHERYN DERBY
Secretary, Wanganui Branch, National Council of Women
Castlecliff
Mental health
Mental health is not a political issue. It is a health issue, where the funding is administered by the Ministry of Health.
The concept of putting MH nurses in the schools shows just how little the real problem is understood. Not only are mental health nurses now working double shifts (16 hours on, 8 hours off, 16 hours on) but medical nurses and doctors also have an unsafe work regime. Don't argue!
Most of the staff come from overseas, so I suspect there is little by way of upskilling courses for mental health here in New Zealand. Maybe an "add-on"year somewhere to general nursing. This is systemically unsound.
Calls for a Royal Commission into mental health services will only work if the public at the "coalface" have serious input.
Funding the multinational pharmaceutical companies for more medication will not decrease this epidemic.
There is no health without mental health, which our suicide statistics also clearly understate.
More funding to the Ombudsman and a Mental Health Commission are a first step.
Strangely, mental health seems to be considered predominantly a Maori problem.
KEN CRAFAR
Wanganui
News priorities
On June 14 there was a shooting in the United States by a far-left Democrat supporter who had worked for Bernie Sanders' campaign and loved Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC.
This man went to a baseball field where politicians were practising for a charity game and targeted Republican politicians.
It should be pointed out that this individual's actions were his own, not the Democrat Party's, not Bernie Sanders', and not Rachel Maddow's, although the fact that he loved Maddow's show should have been an indication of the sad state of his mental health.
If it weren't for the fact that there were two brave police officers present, this tragedy would probably have been a massacre. These two officers, armed only with handguns, took on a shooter who was using a rifle. Both officers were injured, along with others including House of Representatives Majority Whip Stephen Scalise, who was in critical condition after the shooting. The only reason that these officers were on the scene was that they were the security detail for Scalise.
The stories of the bravery of the officers, the harrowing experiences of the Republican politicians and aides who were the targets, the background of the shooter, the public and media response to it all, etc. are all serious news stories.
Yet in the Chronicle the story was only mentioned in brief in the side column, while space was wasted on the page with yet another non-story attacking US President Donald Trump based on New York Times and Washington Post "anonymous sources" stories.
The piece said nothing while appearing to paint a black picture for Trump, a practice that has become far too prevalent in recent times.
I find it strange that the story of an injured police officer dragging herself to her feet and leaning on a vehicle so that she could continue to return fire with a madman and protect the innocent and unarmed people around her was not worthy of printing in our paper, while hollow anti-Trump hit pieces are a regular staple.
K A BENFELL
Gonville
