This was when the wards and departments were staffed by student nurses as well as trained nursing staff. This was before nursing education went to the university and student nurses became supernumerary.

At a hospital nurses’ graduation in 1959 nurses were told by Dr Turnbull: “You can say you trained in one of the best hospitals in Australia”. The Minister for Health Dr Gaha said “the hospital had an excellent reputation”.

I know this can still be said, but only just, the hospital is struggling. No beds, waiting lists, inability to recruit specialist staff, accreditation in at least one area downgraded, nursing staff shortages and double shifts. What is wrong, the student nurses being supernumerary?

IT WOULD appear the writer (What do Church closures mean for the future?, The Sunday Examiner, May 7) has misunderstood the situation regarding Uniting Churches in Northern Tasmania.

The Evandale and Hadspen congregations are not closing their doors and will continue to hold weekly services as well as supporting activities and events which benefit their communities. There are actually plans to upgrade their existing premises to better meet their needs.

While it is true the White Hills congregation has chosen to join Evandale, members remain committed to supporting their local community. The former Chant Street and Balfour Street congregations have decided to merge but the services and programs offered by both will continue well into the future, albeit from a different location.

This includes the very popular Crafty Corner, which attracts more than 100 people each week. It is expected that the new location will better suit the congregation’s needs than either current property.

In simple terms the Uniting Church remains committed to reaching out to all people in the North as it has done for more than 150 years.  That includes the provision of services and support through its community services arm Uniting as well as the church’s congregations.

PLEASE, Treasurer Peter Gutwein, hold your line on taking over ownership of TasWater from our 29 local councils and tell those meddling mayors to just “nick off”. Unfortunately for all Tasmanians, the mayors never got that message when state government took over management of our water and sewerage services some years ago.

How presumptuous can these mayors be when they claim to be speaking on behalf of their communities when it was mayors and councillors of bygone days that forgot about modern water quality and up-to-date sanitation and sewage infrastructure within their municipalities.

What is going on when we have 29 plus people meeting to decide what should be done to improve our water and sewage problems.

I would call such a meeting as a gaggle of geese with no idea about what is required. For goodness sake Mr Gutwein, get on with it and while at it, keep in mind that the assets the mayors claim you are trying to grab, belong to the ratepayers of Tasmania.

Has the Launceston City Council gone mad? Why would you want to waste ratepayers money on a  $9 million Seaport bridge, which is about 50 metres off the Charles Street Bridge that pedestrians and cyclist have been using since it was constructed.