Hospital subdued

AS a long-standing patient at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, I am compelled to express my views about what is happening to staff there. I have received treatment in both Rowan and, until its closure, Poplar Wards. The nurses and staff working there were all magnificent - kind, hardworking and dedicated.

The new treatment centre is, I agree, an improvement on the old building, but it is the staff who are important.

On July 5, I attended the treatment centre for chemotherapy to find the atmosphere very subdued and depressed - not at all as it is normally.

The reason is that the first of the 200 redundancies had been announced, including three good, hardworking nurses in the department that I attended. It is particularly appalling that, as I understand, a large tranche of redundancies will take place just before Christmas. Ironically, while driving to the hospital, I heard the Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, saying that the Government was putting millions into new local centres. Where will they be?

For me and many others Hinchingbrooke is local and affords excellent medical service. I certainly do not wish to have regular treatment at Addenbrooke's or Peterborough, if that is an option.

I fully agree with the sentiments expressed by Merry Raymond (Letters, June 28). Why punish frontline staff? In my experience, if there is a weakness at Hinchingbrooke, it is with the administration - changes in appointment times not notified, conflicting appointments on the same day, seemingly needless replication of patient details and other minor instances are among some of the irritations I have experienced in recent years. Too much bureaucracy that often appears ineffective. Perhaps the chief executive should turn his attention in that direction.

I do not have much faith in expensive management consultants either - have the NHS upper management ever conducted a cost benefit analysis on them?

VAL KIRK

Great Raveley