HEALTH SERVICES

IT is about time that the record is put straight about criticism of the new Dryburn Hospital (let's stop using the cumbersome official title - almost everyone still calls it Dryburn, including the County Council road sign department).

As far as I am aware, nobody has criticised the standard of nursing care, which is truly excellent. I have recent experience of seven different departments and two operations, one as an in-patient and one as an out-patient. Every single member of staff I came into contact with could not have done more.

However, the criticisms have been of the planners and administrators, not of the medical and nursing staff. The parking problems have not been solved. Residential streets around the hospital are still choked with cars whose owners are unwilling to pay the charges. Heavy swing doors continue to bruise those in wheelchairs as they attempt to go through. The parking area for disabled people has just been moved further from the main entrance.

Finally, and most seriously from the patients' point of view, waiting lists are still being fiddled to meet Government targets. I was told my recent operation was performed after less than a year's wait, whereas, in fact, the consultant surgeon had recommended it 18 months before. - Mary R Hawgood, Durham.

PRINCESS MARGARET

WITH a member of the Royal Family dead only a matter of days, I found the near full page article (Echo, Feb 14) about Lord Dormand of Easington and his dislike of British Royalty utterly disgusting.

Whatever your views on Royalty, I would sincerely hope the timing was an oversight.

I simply ask, how can we take his view seriously when he accepted a seat in the House of Lords and has stayed there since 1987?

Lord Dormand proved beyond doubt that there is no such thing as a Socialist with true principles. - Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland.

WITH the death of Princess Margaret, I think most people will agree that, had she been allowed to marry the man of her choice, things would have been much different.

It is inconceivable, in this day and age, that a man of valour who took part in one of the most important battles this country ever faced, the Battle of Britain, was, as a divorcee, deemed unsuitable. Had we lost that battle, the issue would never have arisen.

Now that she has reached her final resting place, let us hope she has taken the outdated, archaic protocol of the Royal household which denied her so much happiness, with her. - Douglas Punchard, Kirkbymoorside.

I WOULD like to express our appreciation for the way that The Northern Echo has covered the events of last week since the death of Princess Margaret.

My wife and I both feel that you attempted to produce factual and objective coverage, but also reflect her full life and the events that were part of it. - Arnold Stapleton, Woodham.

COUNCIL FINANCES

DURHAM County Council is putting up its council tax by a staggering 14.8 per cent. How can they justify this increase when us pensioners get a pittance of a few pounds a year rise?

With this 15 per cent rise, it will make my council tax about £800 a year. In 1999, it was £600 a year.

This means my £200 winter fuel allowance has gone back to the people who gave me it. It's a load of rubbish.

New Labour, I won't be backing them again, only with a vote of no confidence. - G Hunter, Fishburn.

ALAN Coultas is correct (HAS, Feb 16), it is about time the senior executives and councillors ran this town as a business. It is no use them trying to argue that the rates here are cheaper than other areas.

These people, like any other area, have captive customers and they expect ratepayers to meet the expenditures they decide. You cannot do this unless you initially try to cut over-spending or reduce the total annual budgets. Every aspect should be considered and explained in full why certain savings cannot be achieved. - TW Wilkinson, Darlington.

OPERATION LANCET

I AM a new member of the Cleveland Police Authority, so I know no more about the Lancet inquiry than other members of the public.

Like the majority of them, I will base my judgement on statements given by the Chief Constable and by Ray Mallon. Press reports, with a premium on space, often do not give the full detail and therefore the facts can become somewhat distorted.

Each side has its supporters and detractors, but Ashok Kumar seems to fall into both camps. He trailed Mr Mallon round such forums as residents associations, sometimes with local councillors, lauding him as worthy of everyone's support. He even attended a council meeting when the Labour group proposed a motion demanding the Government hold an inquiry into Lancet.

Now, having convinced people of Mr Mallon's suitability for public office but in fear that he has damaged Labour's chances in the Middlesbrough mayoral election, he has withdrawn his support. He has jumped off the bandwagon. What does that say about Ashok Kumar's judgement and integrity? - V Halton, Conservative Councillor, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.

THE EURO

MURIEL Green, (HAS, Feb 8) expresses concern at the level of antagonism and scepticism towards the euro. I can explain in very short order why this is.

By not joining the euro, we retain the freedom to set our own interest rates, our own taxation levels, and all matters concerning our economy. This is not "isolationist", this is democracy. Only those democratically elected are accountable to the electorate for their actions.

Acceptance of the single currency gives away that essential tenet of democracy at a stroke. - D Pascoe, Hartlepool.