I WAS dismayed to read that The Royal Lancaster Infirmary intends to get rid of its dermatology beds.

I have been on the ward about four times suffering from chronic eczema. Having a skin condition is miserable and home treatment just doesn't work, but with intensive treatment in hospital the condition quickly gets better and I am able then to get on with my life.

B eing in hospital is certainly NOT derma-hols, as some call it. People truly need their treatment in a quiet environment.

While on the ward in September I heard people say they were so desperate to be treated that they were suicidal when brought in. It's not just the awful pain and intense itching and bleeding skin, its also the psychological problem of coping with disfiguring conditions.

The ward needs to be quiet and shoving skin patients on a large and noisy ward will not help. There is a risk of spreading infections as patients drop skin everywhere and often are very infectious.

There are few wards in the country that deal with allergies and a need for hospital departments given over to treating these conditions the anaphylactic society is lobbying the Govern-ment for more specialist departments and more consultants in hospitals.

If I can't get treated quickly I don't know what I would do. The health authority should be ploughing money into this ward not taking it away.

Myette Whalley, Halton.