21 OCTOBER 1960, Page 17

DON'T SHOOT THE OBSTETRICIAN

SIR,—Miss Monica Furlong's interesting article in the Spectator of October 7 is open to misinterpretation in two respects. First, money was not freely available for the adaptation of the existing maternity depart- ment of Charing Cross Hospital. What we were able to achieve fell short of our wishes, because of the limited funds, and the architects and contractors

would bear witness to the strict control under which those funds were used.

Secondly, we owed a duty to the profession to inform them of the way in which we had adapted the existing buildings and any publicity.which may have reSulted outside the profession was unsought and .fortuitous.—Yours faithfully, FRANK HART House Governor and Secretary to the Board Charing Cross Hospital, WC2