I WONDER, have the Bolton Hospital Trust totally lost their reason?

First there was the provision of smoking booths, hardly an encouragement for smokers to kick their unhealthy habit! Now, and even more ludicrous, is the policy of allowing animals into the hospital.

There is already a problem of patients developing serious illnesses through the spread of infections on hospital wards. Now there is the likelihood that people will be even more exposed to infections from visiting animals. How ironic!

You cannot take a dog or cat into a shop for reasons of hygiene, and yet a pet dog may run down a ward to be stroked and petted by patients, and worse still, nurses! No doubt in the future cats will be allowed to curl up on beds, birds scatter seeds and droppings from their cages, and must we discriminate against the reptiles?

The reasoning is that this may be therapeutic to certain patients, who, according to the Bolton Evening News article of November 17, are ready to be discharged anyway.

But has anyone considered the patients who do not keep pets or have an aversion to animals?

I was a patient in the Royal Bolton Hospital some years ago, and the standards were excellent, and I wrote to the Trust to congratulate the management.

However, if I ever have the misfortune to require treatment as an in-patient in the future, I shall definitely request admission elsewhere.

(Name and address supplied) PET TONIC: Hospital patient Micola Ilchyszyn, who was mentioned in Saturday's BEN report, is pictured with his wife Agnes and 13-year-old spaniel Sophie PET POSER: Will the Royal Bolton Hospital's idea over animals prove a winner when it comes to health?