Emergency stockpiles are a luxury that not everyone can afford

Keira Callaghan says being prepared should be a public health measure, not a privilege, and Chris Rotheram is experiencing prescription anxiety. Plus five more letters in response to the Be Ready campaign

The Be Ready campaign may offer sensible advice in principle (Every Briton should stockpile water and food supplies, government advises, 22 October), but as a midwife working in Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest boroughs in London, I can see first-hand that its practical recommendations risk excluding precisely those families who are already most vulnerable.

For families living in a single room in a shared house, storing nine litres of water per person alongside three days’ worth of essential supplies may simply be unrealistic. When families are already struggling with the cost of food, heating and everyday necessities, buying additional emergency provisions may also be financially impossible.

Perhaps local councils could create a stockpile hub where those in need could access the recommended supplies, free of charge. Being prepared should be a public health measure, not a privilege reserved for those who can afford it. Keira Callaghan London

While it flies in the face of just-in-time principles, I think the initiative to improve resilience is sensible in the current situation (Andy Burnham says he has emergency stockpile of beans, soup and Twiglets, 23 October). However, due to health issues, I rely on a monthly repeat prescription of several life-preserving medications. It used to be normal practice to request a new prescription when I opened the last box, but now the policy at my GP surgery appears to be that they will not issue a new prescription until a week before I need them.

The pharmacy then requires up to a week to process the prescription, meaning that my medications are always dispensed at the last minute. Localised shortages and periodic mistakes have caused me problems in the past, and I suffer from prescription anxiety every month. This policy is also incompatible with the latest government advice to stockpile essential medication. When the inevitable catastrophe strikes, I will find myself without my essential medication, and I doubt that 75 tins of beans and a packet of Twiglets will be much consolation. Chris Rotheram Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire

The government is urging us to stock up enough supplies to survive for 72 hours. People might be wondering if it is time to dust off their copies of Protect and Survive from the 1980s. That document advised us to ready ourselves for nuclear war by preparing a bucket of sand for a toilet, and laying in some jigsaws to keep the kiddies amused. I feel pretty sanguine that such precautions won’t be needed today, because here in Hexham, where there used to be a nuclear bunker (for the use of officialdom, not for us, of course), there is now a McDonald’s. So, just keep calm and carry on. Caroline Westgate Hexham, Northumberland

You tell us the new government guidance for stocking up on supplies to survive for three days in an emergency, but nowhere does the advice tackle effluent. If we need three litres of bottled drinking water per person per day, the assumption is that mains water is not available.

Could the government please provide advice on where and how we will be expected to do our ablutions in a sanitary way when the toilets will not flush? We do not all have the luxury of a garden in which we can dig a hole. Some of us live in a block of flats, and dealing with three days’ worth of shit is something that needs planning. Peter Slessenger Reading, Berkshire

We are beginning to see the elements of a Labour survival kit. Andy Burnham has gone for Twiglets, while John Healey is carrying a bottle of HP Sauce (Harold Wilson’s gravy). To complete it a flask of tea is required (Tony Benn). Keith Flett Tottenham, London

Regarding Wes Streeting’s advice to stock up on essential food items in the event of food shortages and power cuts, can he please now advise on how to heat up tins of beans, soup, peas, etc when the electricity/gas is off? Jane Kilsby Countesthorpe, Leicestershire

Call me a cynic, but might the government’s call to stock up on emergency supplies have been an attempt to increase economic activity before the budget? Pete Bibby Sheffield