Letters

Published: 13/12/2001, Volume III, No. 5785 Page 23

Obviously the cry will go up: 'That is the Tesco approach', but why is it that every new hospital built, especially under the private finance initiative, requires a new architect's design?

Surely a great deal of cash could be saved if the Department of Health had a file of actual designs and design features that were proven to be best for patients, staff, quality - and the Treasury.

Yes, there would have to be allowances made for locally appropriate external materials and site features, but someone somewhere must have evolved the most suitable, flexible, safe layout that could be used in most cases.

Instead of reinventing the wheel at huge cost all over the country, why do not we have a small central library of proven excellence to call on?

R Ballantine Frome