RECENTLY, I was a patient on E Ward 1 at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn. My stay was an eye-opener for a number of reasons.

Firstly, I cannot praise the people who cared for me enough - from the paramedics, doctors and nursing staff, to the tea-lady.

The food was as good as in many a hotel I have stayed in, and as varied. The down-side was brought home to me by the acute shortage of medicine. They had to borrow my pills to treat me, as they had none in stock.

I saw loads of people not in uniform carrying pieces of paper, which seemed to me to be more wasteful than using a telephone or the computer.

On the subject of uniforms, why, in these cash-strapped times was a change of uniform colour necessary?

Surely, when the NHS is pleading poverty and when wage reviews come up, it is wrong to splash out on changes that are not needed.

D CROSS (Mrs), Royds Street, Accrington.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.