FOR the past month my mother has been seriously ill in the Intensive Therapy Unit of the County Hospital.

The skilled care she has received there could not be bettered anywhere, and I am truly awed by the dedication, professionalism and sympathy of the doctors, nurses and medical staff.

Through your pages, I wish to thank them sincerely.

Having had many hours to observe hospital life of late, I am distressed by a couple of things that seem to take advantage of the devotion of the staff, who have no time, nor the attitude, to protest.

It seems totally ludicrous to me that the restaurant, used as a canteen by the staff, is closed at 2.30 pm - and stops serving food from 2 pm. (I was gracelessly directed to eat my purchase outside the restaurant area on one occasion when I was foolish enough to visit at 2.10 pm).

Thus the staff on both late afternoon and night shifts have no access to food other than sandwiches in the vending machines for the brief breaks they take.

And as for the parking! Members of staff are required to pay £84 pa to park on site and this does not even guarantee them a space. Real forward-thinking at the planning stage of the new hospital?

Call me old-fashioned if you like, but making money from the staff of a hospital is distasteful in the extreme. These people should be -and made to feel -valued.

Stella Havard,

Burghope Farm Stables, Dinmore, Wellington.