THE NHS: YET again the NHS is in the headlines - not for the wonderful service it offers but because it is running up a debt which is quite modest by spending standards.

It is not surprising some trusts are in debt since they have spent in order to maintain and improve the service they offer.

The headlines are dominated by the opinions of the malcontents. We rarely hear from the millions who are very happy with the NHS.

So I will help to redress the situation a little.

I have had three operations in Darlington Memorial and received wonderful treatment in each case and was always first in the queue at the meal trolley.

The health of the nation is the wealth of the nation so let's do our little bit to help. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.

WHY is the NHS in such a mess? What have the auditors been doing to allow debts to go from year to year? Why have ward managers, when a sister is sitting in an office across the corridor?

Not so long ago, I spent about ten minutes being seen by a doctor and nearly half an hour form-filling with a nurse.

It's time the chief executive, deputy to the chief and under deputy, went and their salaries paid for the people who are needed - doctors and nurses. - CM Johnson, Bedale.

STANHOPE PARISH COUNCIL

COUNCILLOR John Shuttleworth (HAS, Mar 24) should not use a hypothetical salary of £12,000 as an excuse for the dismissal of an excellent clerk.

This incorrect salary figure is being used to divert attention from the issue.

Written evidence submitted to both the employment tribunal and the standards board showed the clerk was never allowed to speak on the issue.

Her only crime was to state it was impossible to carry out her duties in the hours allocated (also confirmed by the previous clerk) and produce a report to consider new conditions and salary scales for clerks.

The council going for Quality Status involved extra work, therefore I felt there was a case for increasing her hours and, taking into consideration the National Recommended Profile, her salary would have been £7,479 and not the figure previously stated. - HA Irwin, former chairman of Stanhope Parish Council.

CARE HOMES

PERHAPS S Brown (HAS, Mar 31) should have a good look at a Durham County Council care home, as people who are in them get the best care possible. Newtown House at Stanhope is a classic example of this.

Costs, which senior officers have given to members, have been challenged by myself to no avail, and some homes are being run down by the current uncertainty over their futures.

Those Durham councillors who want to close the homes should remember that they will be old one day. Our older people deserve the best and that's what they get in our council-run homes. - County Councillor John Shuttleworth, Durham.

EU AIR SAFETY

ONCE again the European Union proves its value. Jacques Barrot, the EU Transport Commissioner, had member states submit information on airlines to a panel of experts.

They have drawn up a list of airlines that are unacceptable to EU countries, wholly or partly.

The airlines were identified according to checks carried out in European airports, the use of poorly maintained, antiquated or obsolete aircraft and the inability of the airlines involved to rectify their shortcomings. If safety risks were judged to be the result of the shortcomings of aviation authorities monitoring the company, then the ban can cover all airlines from the country concerned.

The incoherence of the current rules was highlighted last May when an airline, suspended by four European countries, simply redirected its flights to Belgium which had no ban. Last summer a string of fatal accidents including crashes involving Europeans in Canada, Venezuela and Greece, pointed up the need for the common approach provided by the EU.

Travellers will be able to access the list of airlines on-line, as well as other safety information and warnings, before they make their bookings.

Those saying that the EU has had its day should examine closely how it brings together the collective will of member governments for the benefit of us all. - Bill Morehead, Darlington.

TONY BLAIR

I DO not recognise the Tony Blair of Ashok Kumar's piece (Echo, Mar 28).

In his Sedgefield constituency, Mr Blair's stewardship over the loss of manufacturing jobs has been as impressive as has his failure to reduce crime.

His reign has been populated with initiatives which have never been thought through. They have usually been a knee-jerk reaction to current events to feed a hungry media. In the main these stunts have fallen into disuse or failed.

Mr Kumar's comment that Mr Blair's "successes" have been without recourse to tax increases is so ludicrous it is unworthy of comment.

Mr Blair's major success seems to have been his involvement in the deaths of thousands of innocent Iraqis and the conversion of their country into a shambles.

Still worse, his meddlings have fuelled the terrorist backlash and put the citizens of this country in peril.

Mr Blair has betrayed the hope invested in him by the voters after a besmirched Tory government was defeated. Over his time in office he has replaced it with an equally grubby regime.

Gordon Brown has demonstrated no planned deviation from his path. He has an equal unwillingness to heed those who elected him. He, too, has a tax-funded fervour to assist the plight of distant countries when there is enough for him to do in this one. I therefore don't think the change will make much difference. - Chris Greenwell, Aycliffe Village.

STORE PRICES

IT would be interesting to know if Marks & Spencer is reducing the size and weight of some of its food and also charging more, as it seems to be. After the profits it made last year, M&S could afford to reduce its prices. - Nancy Peart, West Auckland.

SENIOR CITIZENS

THANK you to your anonymous correspondent (HAS, Mar 21). I am a 74-year-old widow and I have to pay for glasses and dentistry. I pay council tax minus 25 per cent because I live on my own. I don't smoke, drink or play bingo so was able to buy our council house. I was lucky to work part-time so needed no handouts.

I do not know where your previous correspondent (HAS, Mar 14) was getting her or his information about pensioners, but I am sure it made many pensioners angry. - GM Squirrell, Richmond.

WATER

IT IS to be hoped that various water boards and council officials are having meetings about pipelines to the southern reservoirs. Prohibitive costs? Not when considered against a constant convoy of water tanker lorries. Who will pay? Well, hopefully, southern counties' council taxpayers.

At the moment, through a rather complicated financial process, northern people could be paying on their council taxes. - Fred M Atkinson, Shincliffe.