I WENT to the Malvern hospital meeting at the Abbey Hotel but only came away with a glossy booklet. The information provided was inadequate for deciding on the various options.

It was encouraging to see the large interest in the subject by young and old. One might have expected apathy after a 25 year wait. I comment below on this booklet.

Flexible design, page two, it is stated designs need to be flexible to allow services to be developed over time. This was not followed up in the rest of the document.

Consultation on surgeries, page three, as a patient of the Avenue Road surgery I was not consulted and I would certainly have objected to its removal from a central area.

Costings, page seven, no costings (even approximate ones) seem to have been done in either 2002 or 2004. Thus it is very difficult to make comments on the various options.

Number of beds, page eight, the number of beds is to be increased from 18 to 24. This seems inadequate for a much larger and older population. There seem to be many patients in the Newtown Road complex who could be moved to Malvern near relatives and friends.

The vision, page ten, no reference is made to the physiotherapy service.

Minor injuries, page 11, it is stated that minor injuries can be treated by GPs. They need to know whether bones are broken. It therefore seems essential that they have X-ray facilities on site. No such facilities are proposed. Could not one surgery be located at the hospital with a contract to deal with minor accidents?

Options, page 12, no consideration is given to improving the existing hospital. If necessary palliative services and/or beds to enable carers to have a holiday could be provided on another site. The only reason for rejecting this solution appears to be that it would be impossible to do this under a PFI contract.

When a hospital could be provided, page 12, no information is given. I seem to remember the same promise by Mr Ridley two years ago.

I would prefer Seaford Court, however I have no confidence that the existing PCT is capable of giving us an affordable and adequate hospital in a reasonable timescale that will have sufficient flexibility for the next 25 years. It should at least have the capability of additional beds in the future and an accident facility. We need new facilities now and unless they can reassure us that the above can be achieved I would opt for major improvements to the existing site.

I would ask why other areas in the locality have got new hospitals (Ledbury, Wyre Forest and Pershore) and procrastination rules in Malvern.

All is not lost by the delay to the meeting. Could Mr Ridley please provide a non-glossy report giving answers to the points raised by me and other members of the public. This would answer one question: "Is this just a public relations exercise or just further procrastination?"

ROWLAND CLAYTON, Victoria Road, Malvern.