I READ with total disbelief your article Sights Set Higher (News Shopper, October 3).

My mother had the recent misfortune to be an inpatient at Lewisham Hospital. She had lung cancer and was admitted for pain control.

During the two weeks she was there, her condition deteriorated rapidly.

Food was brought to her and taken away uneaten but she could not feed herself. On one occasion a patient in the next bed helped her.

Family members had to take responsibility for washing and taking her to the toilet. Pressure sores were only dressed once. They were pointed out to the nursing staff but they did not seem to notice.

On one occasion, when she was being taken for radiotherapy to St. Thomas's Hospital, ambulance staff carried her, wrapped only in a blanket, through a torrential downpour into the ambulance.

When my mother was discharged into the family's care, the hospital gave us no support or advice. It would not even provide us with a drugs chart even though she was taking 11 drugs.

Lewisham Hospital is in stark contrast to St. Christopher's Hospice where my mother sadly passed away. The hospice staff were kind, caring and sympathetic to the whole family. I cannot praise them enough.

So how did Lewisham Hospital gain two stars in the NHS Performance Ratings? How is the quality of the service measured? Was the hospital inspected or did it get its two stars based on a set of statistics. Working myself for the NHS I know how "accurate" statistics can be.

I thank God I do not live within its catchment as I would not like to be an inpatient. I and my family have no confidence in Lewisham Hospital.

Pauline Wicks

Address supplied

November 15, 2001 10:57