PENNINE Acute Hospitals NHS Trust seem to be saying (Bury Times, December 28) that the issue of a new access road to Fairfield Hospital is not an important one by refusing to help fund a feasibility survey. The implication of their refusal is that rumours about future use of the hospital may indeed to be true.

The question of an adequate access road does matter, as it did when Bury Pensioners' Association campaigned vigorously for it following their failure to save Bury General from closure.

This fact seems to have escaped the notice of your reporter when listing the various organisations said to be seriously concerned. That lack of recognition does not surprise me, however.

When consideration was being given to what were then 24 different strategies regarding Bury and Rochdale hospitals, 31 interested parties were invited to make submissions and Bury Pensioners' Association, despite having spent 18 months trying to save Florence Nightingale Hospital, had to demand inclusion.

Bury Community Health Council were advised not to make too much fuss over an access road in order not to "rock the boat" on the question of direct funding for the merger of Fairfield Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary, and were promised that this would be taken care of later. After December the CHC will no longer exist; the only independent watchdog we have is being abolished.

So could I remind the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust that we will still exist and that we remain in full support of a campaign for adequate, life-saving access to Fairfield for emergency vehicles.

JIM HOMEWOOD,

chairman,

Bury Pensioners'

Association.