DURING a recent visit to the city centre pubs on the Sunday before the August bank holiday, I was disgusted and the state of the ladies toilets.

The vast majority had doors hanging off their hinges offering no privacy. Sinks plugged, no soap, no toilet paper and if you did find an unplugged sink and a tap that worked there was nothing to dry your hands on.

I've travelled a lot and these toilets are in worse condition than the toilets in most third world countries. I would have thought the the council would have some inspector who checked these things.

With the success of the football team we will be getting lots of visitors to the city. If their wives have anything to do with it, it will be a once-only visit.
Inconvenienced,
Ryhope
Sunderland

Growing city traffic
HAVING lived in Sunderland for more than 57 years I do find it rather patronising to have my city praised because the traffic flow is worse in Oxford (Rev. Tom Gibbons, Echo, August 16).

This simplistic view worries me for, unlike the Rev Gibbons, I hope that Sunderland can possess a vibrant and busy inner city structure where people live, work and shop, rather than a nice little place where the good vicar can make his journey on the roads without a care in the world.

During any midweek early morning, I find it uncomfortably easy to miss the quantity of traffic one should associate in and around a big urban city and I would like to see more. The use of public transport must of course be encouraged and improvements to that apology of a Sunderland rail station cannot come a minute too soon, but it still does not explain the relatively limited use of our roads at peak times when compared to other cities in the North.

There will be some exceptions, but I would also suggest that those roads where there are some queues in the early morning heading into Sunderland such as from the A690 and on Chester Road for example, will include a good number of parents taking their children to school.

Many more business people in their cars coming in to our city centre to make money for themselves and their locally-born employees will be a welcome and much-needed addition to our economy. The same applies to the thousands of our own residents who decide, for a variety of reasons not to visit the city centre to shop and instead choose other parts. We need more people in our city centre to support the regeneration that is taking place and will, hopefully, continue to do so. If that means a few more minutes in our motor cars then so be it.
Coun Michael Dixon, (Conservative),
St Chad's Ward

Going hungry
AGE Concern has reported that elderly people are left to go hungry in hospitals due to the failure of staff to ensure they are fed.

An Age Concern study of English and Welsh NHS trusts found 43 per cent did not run protected mealtimes – where non-urgent work stops to make sure patients eat.

Tackling malnutrition should be a top priority for all NHS trusts. The study found that one in three NHS Trusts in England had not yet introduced a so-called red tray system, where meal trays are colour-coded to show which patients need help with eating. It reported cases of patients being taken to the toilet and routine examinations being carried out during mealtimes, resulting in people missing out on food.
The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) received more than 29,000 reports of incidents concerning patient nutrition in 2007. These included badly-fitted feeding tubes, frail patients unable to reach their food, people who had trouble swallowing being given incorrect meals and poor nutrition contributing towards deaths. It's shocking that many older people still find themselves trapped within a "postcode lottery of commitment" to improve nutritional standards on hospital wards.
Coun Shirley Leadbitter,
St Peters Ward

Don't let it close
I WAS so saddened by the news of the possible closure of Donna Claire House. As a previous employee and friend of staff and guests at Donna Claire House I can say wholeheartedly that Donna Claire is a vital source of respite, support and friendship to guests, families and carers locally and in the wider community too.

Donna Claire House is able to provide people who have a physical disability with a holiday that all of us without a disability take for granted and ensure every need is catered for and the greatest care given.

It also enables the carers and families to take a holiday which they would otherwise be unable to have. If Donna Claire cannot raise the money needed and is forced to close, where are all the guests, families and carers going to acquire the service they have all come to know, rely upon and look forward to?

I urge everyone to support this cause and to help in any way they can. The staff of Donna Claire House are thoroughly committed and need the backing of the local community to continue doing the remarkable job they have been doing for the past 25 years, and let us hope they may continue for at least another 25 years.
Louise,
Northumberland

Resurface roads
BEFORE pushing for an "iconic bridge" across the Wear we would be better served if the council resurfaced side roads and repaired pavements. In East Herrington roads and pavements are a disgrace.
Ron Metcalfe,
East Herrington

Thousands waiting for kidney transplant
MICHAEL Franciosy's brave and generous donation of his kidney to son Michael jnr will rightfully highlight the plight of the 8,000 people in the UK currently awaiting a transplant. But what happens to those thousands who are not transplanted due to organ shortage or individual medical history?

There are more than 6,200 people now waiting for a kidney transplant, an annual increase of eight per cent, with just over 2,000 patients being lucky enough to receive one this year.

There are 43,901 people in the UK receiving RRT according to the most recent Renal Registry Report. Although the majority of these will be eligible for a kidney transplant in the future, whilst they are waiting they have only two choices – hospital or home-based dialysis.

Current health policy relating to the care of patients advocates delivering care closer to the patient's home. With current dialysis capacity issues and a focus on patient choice, shouldn't more patients be able to choose a home-based treatment?
Samantha Addie,
Dialysis Options,
www.dialysisoptions.org

It's never too late
AT this time of year, it's not just children who are preparing to burrow deep into their books again, but many thousands of adult learners, through work-based learning.

Trade unions are working in partnership with companies in the region such as Cummins, Northern Foods, McVities, Cumbria County Council and others, to ensure that their staff are learning new skills and improving their prospects, as well as improving the company. And it is through trade unions and over 20,000 union learning reps, that people, both younger and older, are getting a second, third ,or even fourth chance at learning or improving their professional skills.

Union learning centres, which are very often on the workplace site, are revolutionising learning for employees and their families, as well as giving learners much more confidence. If you are a trade union member, speak to your rep about learning or visit www.unionlearn.org.uk, because it's never too late to learn.
Barney McGill,
Regional Manager,
Unionlearn with the Northern TUC,
5th Floor, Commercial Union House
39 Pilgrim Street
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6QE
tel: 0191 227 5552

School trees chopped
WHAT has happened to the trees in the school field of East Herrington Primary School? Whose bright idea was it to cut them down and "shape" them into chairs?

There was nothing wrong with those trees and I am disgusted that they have been chopped. The children and parents are in for a shock when they see it.

It is absolutely sickening, nine beautiful trees cut down in their prime. Shame on you.
Ellen Mustard,
Farringdon,
Sunderland

TO the person who decided to take my Samsung camera from The Riverbar in Fatfield on Bank Holiday Sunday. You can keep the camera but I would really appreciate it if you could have the decency to buy a stamp and send me my memory card as it has alot of treasured memories of my family who are not all here any more. The photos would mean nothing to you. So please have some conscience. Thank you.
Victoria Scott
37 Fordland Place
Pallion
Sunderland SR4 6UR

A COUPLE of weeks ago you had a poll about the Olympics. In my wisdom, I voted that we would not get the number of medals predicted. Now I would like to apologise for this and congratulate every member of the team for the effort they put into their sports.
Jack Wilkinson,
Nesbit Road,
Peterlee

ONLY five of us from Sunderland – Alf Seaman, Ken Holroyd, Tom Plunkett, Bill Rutherford and myself – travelled by train to the Open Day at David Brown Engineering Huddersfield.
I had no idea how large a site David Brown's was. It took about two hours to walk round the the factory units plus outside displays, from tractors, Challenger tank and rocket launcher and Aston Martin cars, and the young ladies selling raffle tickets who were very sympathetic about the closure of the Pallion gear works in Sunderland.
Something we did learn from the trip was that Clyde Blowers are planning on buying David Brown as part of a $1billion deal.
All in all, a most enjoyable and enlightening day.
Alan Ramsey,
Hall Farm,
Sunderland

A BIG thank you to all staff on ward D41 of Sunderland Royal Hospital for making my 11 days in hospital so comfortable.
Also a big hello to the people I met, Mary, Pat, Sylvia, Joyce and Ruth. I hope you are all doing well.
Maureen M Dunn