S VICKERS (Letters, March 21) may well have received excellent treatment at the Royal Bolton Hospital six years ago, when no doubt there was a bed available for him upon arrival at the hospital.

Unfortunately, the situation is somewhat different today.

I was with a patient at the A&E Department on Thursday, March 21, when the hospital declared a "status red" situation and were diverting people to hospitals in Manchester and Oldham. We arrived mid-afternoon, the patient having been referred by his GP, and he lay on a trolley until a bed was found at 1am on Friday morning.

At that time there were still numerous people on trolleys, including a woman of 89 with a broken hip. No doubt some of them would have remained on trolleys all night. This is not acceptable for anyone, let alone elderly patients. We were told that A&E has a target to find a bed within 12 hours of a doctor deciding to admit a patient. This does not include the time taken to register on arrival, waiting to see a doctor, and the time for examinations and X-rays before the doctor decides to admit.

On two occasions that week they had failed to meet that target.

The spokesman for the Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust stated in the Bolton Evening News report that the last time a "status red" was declared was in January, but if they are failing to meet the target to find a bed on at least two occasions in one week, then the situation is more serious than that simple statement implied.

While all this chaos was taking place in one week at the A&E Department, Tony Blair was making front page headlines at the Bolton Arena for the Commonwealth Games, unaware and without regard for the crisis at the hospital. Our MPs remained silent as usual.

From my experience, the A&E department and the medical assessment unit lurch from crisis to crisis in the search for beds, and it is only the kindness, dedication and loyalty of the staff which prevents the system from collapsing more frequently than it does already.

I do not share the political views of ex-MP David Young, but he is correct in what he says. The criticism by S Vickers is unjustified and he has been lucky. Many others, however, have seen the bad side of the hospital. They have suffered as a result of the shortage of beds, lack of proper supervision of ward staff, which is necessary when so many new, temporary, part-time, agency and student nurses are employed.

Many people who have suffered in this way are afraid to complain in case it jeopardises their treatment by the hospital.

S Vickers and others who have been lucky should be thankful and pray that they will not need to be admitted as an emergency at the present time.

Regular Hospital Visitor

(Name and address supplied)