Closure of St Peter's Hospice

Letter, (slightly edited) appeared in Evening Post last week:

Dr Fox of the St John's Lane Health Centre speaks probably for hundreds, if not thousands, of Bristolians when he says the closure of St Peter's Hospice at Knowle will be a major loss to the South Bristol Community.

How far could that grossly overpriced consultancy job on a new name for the Museum of Bristol have financed the salvation of that institution?

Then add the £10 million or so, earmarked from NHS funding to promote fluoridation in our area - an unethical and arguably illegal interference with our right not to be compulsorily treated; and a plan which nobody needs, or wants, or is prepared to pay for.

And if anyone in politics and the health services wishes to argue about kiddies' tooth decay, how does preserving, on average, half a tooth per child per year - teeth soon to be lost anyway as children grow up - stack up against the reputation of human love, care and compassion offered to the terminally ill? In this respect, St Peter's represents the gold standard; an immeasurable asset to our sick and their loved ones. Yet another failed test of our convoluted priorities!

BERNARD J SEWARD