Good old days were not so bad

LETTER - I realise that harking back to the "old days" can be very boring and serves no purpose. However, I cannot help but compare today's hospitals with the hospital of my training days in the 1950s.

Each ward was closed, on a rotational basis, for one week, when every inch was deep cleaned.

In addition to this deep cleaning, which occurred on Sunday with no doctors to hinder us, us students cleaned everything possible, without inconveniencing or neglecting the patients.

As a very junior nurse, I was so proud of the spotless, shining urinals. We did not have antibiotics, so removing the sources of infection was of prime importance.

Today's deep cleaning seems rather a waste of precious cash, when daily domestic services are constantly reduced.

Patients' diets were strictly supervised by the ward sister, who plated meals from a heated trolley for us students to deliver to the patients.

We also collected the plates and recorded what had been eaten or left, thus avoiding malnutrition.

Surely the old days were not so bad!

Jose Wilson, Retired SRN, Madeley