THE recent annual general meeting of Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale NHS Trust was well attended - mainly by NHS staff 'coralled' specially for the event - unlike the normal bi-monthly board meetings, which rarely provoke any public interest.

One reason for this apathy may be explained by the refusal to answer questions convincingly - as in the case of my own two questions.

Example: "Why does the board not admit to a profit of £5 million on trading of £94 million?" Answer: "This is a 'surplus' not a profit and most of the £5 million 'surplus' has to be handed back to the NHS as a levy on fixed assets."

Example: "Since two board members have no problem declaring their membership of the Labour Party, as part of the avowed intention to be 'open' and 'transparent' in all matters, why won't the majority of the board admit their Conservative Party or Freemasonry connections?" Answer: "All were invited to sign a declaration, as specified by the Health Secretary, Frank Dobson, but chose not to do so."

And there's me thinking this was mandatory!

The public in Rossendale are totally disenchanted with the way the process of phasing out of their general hospital has been handled.

Obviously, Pendle and Burnley people can't summon up the interest to attend and with answers like these, who can be surprised?

Surely, the public's attendance should be actively encouraged, not simply tolerated.

H HORNE (Mr), Brunshaw Road, Burnley.

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