It was interesting to read Alan Chedzoy's diatribe about the failure of the NHS when your edition was full of the successes of the service.

I have daughters in nursing, social services and teaching, and a grandson in the police force. They are all full of praise for their colleagues.

Of course they need more staff and finance to help development, but extraordinary progress has been made in these areas in the past decade.

In my own field of brain research we have witnessed a revolution in understanding how the teenage brain develops. and how we can tackle the problems that cause adolescents to feel anxious and depressed.

Has Weymouth's resident moaner ever linked our country's lack of funds to the time not so long ago when we were told by his friends that 'the cupboard was bare'.

Does he suggest that we should use the enormous sums of overseas aid perhaps to bolster our own services?

Incidentally, if he had bothered to read about the background to the Portland Hospital beds he would never have condemned the decision out of hand.

I shall continue to look forward to his rather comical letters, which often lack perspective and factual accuracy.

John Figg
Icen Road, Weymouth