WHY didn't the Government pay for our new hospital? (The Royal Blackburn Hospital) instead of giving the building contract to a private firm.

It will take us more than 30 years to pay the loan back.

Also the private firms now involved with the NHS are making big profits out of car parking, catering, and shops within the hospital.

I recently saw a nightdress in a hospital shop, which was overpriced.

I could have got the same thing for half price elsewhere.

And phone charges are also going up from 10p to 26p a minute which is daylight robbery.

Sick people and visitors could do without all this expense.

As for staff having to pay to go to work when they need to park their cars at the hospital, it is disgusting.

Also, I believe there is a shortage of milk in our hospital and cutbacks have to be made.

So I would like to say to the managers who have ordered these cutbacks, how many cups of tea and coffee do you drink every day or do the cutbacks not apply to you?

H HAMER, Lowther Place, Blackburn.