HAVING recently sat in the trauma clinic at our new hospital for more than three-and-half hours, it gave me plenty of time to ponder on the thinking behind the design.

Sitting there in the waiting room, I was struck by the realisation that there are no windows, nothing to let in the air and natural light from outside. Why?

My next stop was X-ray, a very long journey around many corridors. Strangely these had windows, but X-ray seems so far from the trauma area. Why?

Then it was on to the plaster room, a tiny place, again with no windows. I don't understand why this should be. A visit to the ENT clinic also revealed the same thing.

Why, in this hospital's design, did the architect deem it necessary to place all the corridors on the outside of the building, with windows, leaving all the working areas enclosed and under artificial light?

The staff here must feel like pit ponies.

Following this, I had the unfortunate experience of staying in one of the wards for a few nights. I was amazed to find the showers have no basins, the sink basins were tiny and there were no basin plugs.

I really don't wish to sound negative towards our new building, and certainly not to the staff, who do a marvellous job under very demanding conditions.

But I do feel that an opportunity was lost here in its design and that a tremendous amount of space wasted.

ROSEMARIE POWE (Mrs),

Worcester.