AS someone who has spent quite a bit of time – certainly more than I would have liked – in hospital in recent years, I have been following the debate on the plans for a new facility at Wynyard, near Stockton, with great interest.

While I couldn’t fault the treatment I have received as an inpatient and outpatient at both North Tees (Stockton) and Hartlepool hospitals, my experiences convinced me that both buildings were just about reaching the end of their natural life and that the case for a replacement was pretty strong.

Reading political correspondent Rob Merrick’s column (Echo, July 29), which showed that a new hospital would be the most cost-effective as well as the most clinically sound option, only confirmed my views.

The Government should do the decent thing, honour the promise to build a new hospital and give the superb staff of the NHS the environment in which their skills and dedication can be used to best effect.

Michael Clark, Stockton.