Top-heavy trusts - SIR - I am disgusted and somewhat suspicious having read your latest article on the suggestions and proposals for our health authority.

Not so long ago we were informed that having two hospitals, at Durham and Shotley Bridge, was unnecessary. Despite protests, Shotley Bridge was downgraded.

Due to a massive miscalculation, a reduced Shotley Bridge will now need to take on a greater role - although on a much reduced site due to the sale of a large proportion of land for housing.

Dryburn, or should we say the University Hospital, is also much decreased with proposals for part of its site to be hived off for commercial development.

Just what is the health trust there for? Care of patients or profit? What happened to all the TV sets bought for patients' use by friends of the hospital? Why the private pay-to-view system?

The new hospital is too small, so they say: "Let's amalgamate the county's health trusts so we can cover up the inadequacies.

"We can pass patients we cannot treat due to lack of beds to another hospital elsewhere in the county."

The fact that the patients and their visitors may have to travel considerable distances and then pay for car parking in a car park, which has been paid for by their own National Health contributions, is not important to them. Are the trusts perhaps too bound up in profit? Are there too many overpaid and inept administrators and too few doctors and nurses?

Current and future investment would be better spent if the unnecessarily top-heavy administration was pruned to a more sensible level.

I would like to challenge our health trust to attend an open forum at their own chosen time and venue to answer these and other questions. I would be happy to attend.

R T Harrison, Kiphill.

Extremist threat

SIR - I was dismayed to see the members of the National Front distributing literature on Framwellgate Bridge on Saturday, February 23.

Coming originally as I do from East Lancashire, an area where racism is a serious problem, and where BNP candidates received worrying numbers of votes in the 2001 General Election, this concerns me greatly. I would hate to see my adopted home city of Durham go the same way.

We see regularly on news broadcasts the damage done by extreme forms of nationalism across the world. I hope that all the local churches, community groups and mainstream political parties will stand firm against this potential social menace.

Coun Richard Ormerod

Liberal Democrat

Langley Moor and Meadowfield

Council's monopoly

SIR - I was appalled to read in The Advertiser that the county council is proposing to increase the council tax for 2002/2003 by 14.8 per cent.

With inflation running at between one and two per cent, what possible justification can there be for such a huge increase?

Each year, the council tax has seen an above inflation increase, but this increase seems to break all records.

If electricity, gas or water companies were to propose such increases, there would be an outcry, and the regulators would certainly not allow it.

There must surely be something wrong with the council's financial management and planning if it needs such a staggering increase to balance the books. Or is it that it knows it is in a monopoly position?

We are usually fobbed off with the excuse that the Government has reduced funding, and the Government line is that the council is overspending. This is no consolation to the County Durham residents who end up paying the bill.

To add insult to injury, each year that the council tax demands drop through letter boxes, there is no explanation as to why the council is increasing rates.

It could at least try to justify the increases to council tax payers, instead of treating them with apparent contempt.

Mr D Cummins,

Durham City