SIR: I write further to my letter of April 2 about parking at the Royal Bolton Hospital and the subsequent replies of April 14 and 16.

My classification of staff not only includes doctors and nurses, but also midwives, physiotherapists, radiographers, medical secretaries, clerks, porters, cleaners, management, pharmacy, laundry, kitchen staff, WRVS volunteers, and all the other unsung heroes so vital to a hospital.

With foresight and planning, eg a simple survey carried out on how many staff require parking spaces by placing a questionnaire in pay packets, would have at least given a starting point for the parking situation. For argument's sake, divide this number in half, to account for shift patterns and that would have given the minimum number.

Patients and staff are equally dependent on the other, and both are necessary factors.

The inference that one row of disabled spaces opposite one main entrance is sufficient for a town the size of Bolton, plus outlying districts, is ludicrous. Could the consultants' parking spaces on the main drive not be made available to disabled drivers for evening visiting? A traffic warden to monitor this situation could be paid for out of parking charges.

Mrs D Taylor

Pimlott Road

Hall i'th' Wood, Bolton

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