I read the letter from W J Drummond (Evening Press, September 10) with great sadness. I have done nothing other than seek natural justice.

My case against the York Health Authority was a private matter - my only reason for seeking publicity was to prevent anyone else being placed in the same position.

W J Drummond's letter is personally offensive and unhelpful.

The queue referred to contains a lot of people who are full of fear, in many cases not able to help themselves and reliant on a system that is flawed.

I would suggest that instead of writing odious comments that are ill-informed, attention should be made to the subject matter - the £1.5 billion pounds spent annually by the NHS in litigation and legal expenses.

Think how the NHS would benefit from an open approach to mistakes.

The writer from Skelton should look at the appalling grief and fear faced by people who are placed in the position I found myself.

I was fortunate to be taken out of the queue to which he refers.

However, I will never be able to forget the eight years of waiting.

Money will never compensate me for that.

Colin Langley,

Allendale,

Woodthorpe, York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.