In the light of the special report form the select committee on public administration relating to North and Mid Hampshire health authority (News, page 4, 4 December), we as members of a women's health authority chairs' network, felt it important to put on public record our views relating to Angela Sealey, former chair of the authority.

Angela Sealey will be a great loss to the NHS, which she has served tirelessly and capably for over 20 years, at both the local level and on the national scene.

Angela is a person of integrity, wisdom and ability. Her commitment to the NHS and improving patient care is undoubted.

Angela is well-respected for all these qualities, for her insights, her strong sense of responsibility and for her willingness to give generously of her time to serve the wider NHS community, particularly in her leading role in the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts and its successor body, the NHS Confederation.

The coverage of this issue has not done justice to the care and compassion that Angela has

displayed to the people she served.

Adrienne Fresko, chair, Croydon HA; Judith Greensmith, chair, Liverpool HA; Catherine McLoughlin, chair, Bromley HA, & co-chair, NHS Confederation; Sylvia Murray, chair, Newcastle & North Tyneside HA; Martha Perriam, chair, Avon HA; Jo Rodin, chair, Greenwich & Bexley HA; and Joanna Spicer, chair, Suffolk HA.

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