CAN it be true that the people of Okehampton are happy that the Health Authority is going to close two hospitals and replace them with a single hospital with 14 fewer beds?

Do they intend that those who are now catered for at the Castle Hospital will be moved out of Okehampton or do they intend that those who are treated at the District Hospital should be sent to Exeter?

With 14 fewer beds it has to be one or the other.

Okehampton is expanding and the county council has plans for a more rapid expansion. It seems to me that the new hospital should be able to cater for more patients, not less.

The new site means the hospital will have to be built on two levels, with no room for expansion or visitor's car park or for patients to be able to walk in the grounds whilst recovering.

Building a new hospital which will be too small for the needs of Okehampton in a few years' time is not the answer. A site such as Laburnum, off Exeter Road would be more suitable in the long-term.

J W Reid

Limehayes Road

Okehampton