My beautiful husband, Bill, has Alzheimers and lives in McIntosh Court near Toronto. I see him every day, so I know what I am talking about. The care that Bill receives is wonderful. He is treated with great care and friendliness by every staff member. His personal carers look after him with dignity and skill. I feed him his lunch most days and the food is attractive, varied, nutritious and tasty. If he sleeps late Bill's breakfast is prepared for him individually. The surroundings are spotlessly clean and tastefully decorated.

Dementia is a cruel and confronting disease. Even after more than a decade of caring for Bill, I am regularly surprised and upset by some new development.

I too am supported by everyone at Macintosh, but particularly by the registered nurses and liaison staff who balance straight talking, patience and compassion that has come from experience.

Yes, there needs to be mandated staff ratios. Yes, there is pressure on staffing exacerbated by COVID.

No, there are not enough people going into aged care. Yes, they all deserve much better pay. Yes, every one of them has my respect and gratitude.

Thank you for looking after my Bill.

IT was with great sadness that I read the letter "If only you knew what aged care nurses do" (Letters 14/4). The name and address of the writer was withheld and I'm not surprised about that as I'm sure there would be repercussions.

There is almost always another side to any story and the story told here was quite believable, but sad. I have heard these stories first hand before too from carers in the system and I am constantly amazed that it continues.

My mum spent the final years of her life in a lovely facility in Maitland where all she experienced was kindness and caring and that is what she gave too.

I would like to think that as we all age we will experience what she did, but I believe that it all starts with quality well-trained staff who are well paid and respected where there is no room for disrespect or abuse.

I THINK that letter writers, myself included, tend to take life somewhat too seriously. Sometimes we should take a step back and laugh at the silly things we have done.

Last year I spent several thousand dollars installing solar panels on my roof. A week or so after the installation my wife brought home a gas heater which she found at "such a good price at the Salvation Army shop".

Being technically challenged I often call in experts to complete jobs that I have botched. I recently decided to put a coat hanger on the bathroom door. I completed the job and was congratulating myself when she, who must be obeyed, asked what the heck (not exactly the words used) I was doing.

The wife then directed me to look at the outside of the bathroom door. Whilst I had used the correct diameter screws to screw in the coat hanger, I had not considered the length of said screws resulting in the sharp of four screws appearing on the outside of the door. A quick hanging of a picture fixed the problem.

I AM hoping that those doing the John Hunter Hospital renovations will talk to the valued staff about what is desperately needed at the hospital, but I fear the same problem as the new Maitland hospital will emerge; they will fail to consult the staff.

I was recently a patient at the hospital and had to be wheeled in my bed to X-rays etc. The corridors are too narrow and the staff have to manoeuvre the beds around the numerous shelves filled with the items in the corridors. I am hoping that you please consult the staff as to what is needed. People in their air-conditioned offices have no idea what the staff need, and their job is hard enough, so please listen to their concerns.

PENALTIES in front of the goal post assist the defending team. In two early games this season, the Knights have preferred to tap and run to put pressure on the defending team, only to get two major team members hurt and put pressure on themselves. Even though the commentators mentioned they have not scored any points for 120 hours, the Knights ignored a certain two points in the vain hope of scoring 6.

Last Sunday St George had no hesitation in taking the two points, in a close match, and ended up winners. As I wrote in the Herald in 2018, this is a very low percentage return play. Back then the Knights were heading for another wooden spoon, but Jamie Buhrer decided to take the goal kick and turned the game in their favour. When will it become obvious to the new coach for them to take the gifted two points, rest their players, and get the ball back for a fresh attack? For the sake of the fans, please take the two points, when on offer, Mr O'Brien.

I CHECKED my mailbox this morning and besides my normal mail I received applications for postal votes from both parties, the one from the Labor party was in a red envelope and addressed to the occupant. The one from the Liberal party was in a white envelope and with all my personal details on the application. The Labor party had all details to contact their candidate whilst the Liberal party candidate did not have any contact details except for an address in Sydney. I am concerned that if they have my details they will be bombarding me with all of their pamphlets and other paraphernalia. I wonder why they apparently don't want their candidate contacted.

THE ruling that NATO will only physically defend its own members is understandable, up to a point. However, when the odds are so severely stacked against Ukraine, I cannot understand why there is no provision for such a ruling to be overridden. My heart bleeds for the people of Ukraine. I have frequently been brought to tears that this butchery can still be allowed to happen in this day and age. Surely Vladimir Putin and his generals have abrogated all entitlement to fair play and should be brought to account by whatever means necessary, rules or no rules. The last I heard, the International Court of Justice investigators have found evidence of 6000 cases of Russian war crimes. What a staggering figure.

The United Nations was established post World War II so that we would never see another Adolf Hitler. Since then we have seen despots of the likes of Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Robert Mugabe and Saddam Hussein. When are we going to wake up? If decisive action is not taken, there will be more to follow. How many more innocent lives will be sacrificed?

I have long held the opinion that the United Nations is a toothless tiger. I now consider NATO in a similar light.

NOW that the Solomon Islands have formally linked with China ('Solomons inaction 'a massive failure'', Newcastle Herald 21/4), I imagine the $156 million in foreign aid budget to them from our hard earned money can be utilised for the needy in Australia. In addition, if they choose to migrate, China awaits! Not here.

WITH COVID restrictions on the wane in Australia I had two bucket list items to mark off in the coming months. One was to participate in a good old fashioned "Bush Bash" around our state akin to the old Redex Run. The second was to visit the Grand Canyon, in America. Either would have set me back a pretty penny but thanks to the Lake Macquarie council I can do both, much closer to home. I just drive around Charlestown and nearby areas to encounter road surfaces, similar to a Bush Bash. Whilst going to shop in the car park at Whitebridge I encounter holes the size and depth of the Grand Hole itself. Thanks for saving me all that money.

THE question for Tony Jones (Short Takes, 19/4), is did he check his facts with Mr Drury or his local members if they had tried to help him or not? All too often we see people on this page presenting their opinion as fact and some who just make it up.

MATT Kean's hyperbolic comments on Katherine Deves' views ('PM defends 'captain's pick' in Warringah', Herald 16/4) are in my opinion tantamount to an advertisement for the campaign of Zali Steggall and I believe he should be asked to step down from his ministry in the state parliament, and asked to resign from the Liberal Party.

THE deterioration in standards could not be more obvious than its modern referral to the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader as "ScoMo" and "Albo". Much greater respect was given to these positions in the past. Former PMs were never called by their nicknames of (for example) "Pig Iron Bob", "Little Johnny" and "Super Goof".

GEOFF Black (Letters, 19/4), says people's beliefs and opinions are based on emotions rather than reason and objective evidence. Does this include his beliefs and opinions? Do only religious believers 'cherry-pick' arguments and evidence? For Thomas Aquinas, faith is not just compatible with, but builds on, reason. GK Chesterton observed that reason is itself a matter of faith, and that it is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all. Mr Black asks in which truth and in which God do we believe. The famous French writer Albert Camus, an atheist, offers one piece of advice: "not feeling that I possess any absolute truth or any message, I shall never start from the supposition that Christian truth is illusory".