Lister or QEII, I have worked at both of these hospitals. I remember when the Lister was a happy and enjoyable place to work with all staff dedicated to their various roles and on good terms with all their colleagues. Then the Government in their infinite

Lister or QEII, I have worked at both of these hospitals. I remember when the Lister was a happy and enjoyable place to work with all staff dedicated to their various roles and on good terms with all their colleagues. Then the Government in their infinite wisdom forced a merger of these two hospitals. Since that day life changed at the Lister. The hospitals had different cultures, policies, systems and procedures. All the money spent on upgrading the QEII and trying to implement the same standards on both sites was never going to work. The so-called merger has probably added to the overspend, there is a blame culture at both sites with staff naturally loyal to their own place of work. There is no doubt that the standards dropped dramatically at the Lister after the merger and now, due to the massive debts and staff being made redundant, the morale of the staff is at its lowest ebb.

The location of the Lister is far superior to that of the QEII, being just off the A1(M). The QEII was built back to front anyway and ambulances, staff and patients have to negotiate schools and housing estates to get there and it has a serious lack of car parking space. If one hospital has to lose its A&E department (I am not in agreement with this decision) then it should be the QEII. The Lister has made enough sacrifices in the past and should be given the chance to improve its standards again and return to the friendly, efficient hospital it once was with one aim - good quality patient care.

JENNI McGREGOR

* Please do all you can as the local paper for Stevenage and villages to support the establishment of the Lister as the main hospital for East and North Herts NHS.

The QEII may have denser population but the Lister covers a considerable population north of Stevenage and it is therefore central to the patients covered by the Trust. Lister is adjacent to an A1(M) junction and therefore able to help accident victims more easily. Helicopters also land at the fire service premises in Hitchin Road when necessary.

Mrs M DONOVAN, Fishers Green Road, Stevenage

* Lister or QEII, it has to be Lister.

1. Easier to access from the A1M, unlike the QEII where you have to zigzag through a large housing estate (must be a nightmare for ambulances).

2. Lister is a more modern site and would lend itself more to upgrading then QEII.

3. With the proposed large scale expansion of housing in Stevenage the population density will soon be equal to the QEII.

It has to be Lister!

NAME AND ADDRESS WITHHELD