We recently had occasion to visit Brighton General Hospital where a senior member of our family was terminally ill after being transferred from the Royal Sussex County.

The conditions we found filled us with horror and disgust; the environment of Cuckmere Ward in particular was in a deplorable state.

One item seemed to epitomise the general air of dilapidation: A reproduction mounted on faded paper, without glass, in a dusty frame, was hung at about head height in a completely arbitrary position - the sort of sad object left behind at a car boot sale because no one would offer 10p for it.

The message conveyed by this "token gesture" was unmistakable to patients and visitors alike: "This is all you are worth; we can't be bothered to do any better."

We were saddened to see how dispirited staff seemed on occasion. Systems for communication and for relating over patient care seemed to be as threadbare as the wards themselves.

We know management responses to experiences such as ours will be based on financial expediency and on the same weary assurances there has never been so much funding for the NHS.

We reject these excuses and ask: How can we take pride in our society and our town when our old, sick and vulnerable citizens are treated with such undeserved disdain?

-P. and P. Hawes, Marine Avenue, Hove