DEAR EDITOR - As one who has spent most of his working life dealing with the NHS and who was chief officer of a community health council - the liaison body between the public and the NHS - for more than 20 years, I am horrified at plans to close Withybush and replace it with a so-called super hospital near Carmarthen.

We are promised a massive reorganisation of services for Pembrokeshire which will lead to a reduction in the availability of hospital services locally. It will result in a lessening of services in Pembrokeshire. It's good to see the Western Telegraph take up the case for Pembrokeshire people, and also the Community Health Council, which has a duty to represent their interests in health matters. I urge all people in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire to consider the proposals and speak up to let their views be known. We must not leave it to management, it's our health they're messing with.

Brian Sherlock Pen-Y-Mor, St Patricks Hill, Llanreath.

DEAR EDITOR - What is being proposed for health is ridiculous, as almost every person in Pembrokeshire will, or should, agree. What executive came up with this ill-conceived idea?

It would appear they want to close Withybush and Glangwili Hospitals and replace them with a new one, midway between them. If money is available for a new hospital, it would be much better spent on improving the in-situ hospitals. It would be so much cheaper for everyone. Withybush and Glangwili are sited where they are because that's where they are needed and that's where they must stay. Join the fight to keep them where they are - but also improved.

G. E. HARRIS 124 Haven Park Crescent, Haverfordwest.

Dear Editor - Ten years ago, I suffered the first of a series of cardiac arrests. Fortunately my wife knows resuscitation and very luckily, we live five minutes drive from Withybush.

They saved my life. I will never forget the care I received. If the nearest hospital had been 'somewhere in south Dyfed,' I wouldn't be writing this, I'd be dead. Bigger does not necessarily mean better, it can mean worse. Big institutions need a higher management overhead, meaning fewer resources for medical care. Bigger also means more impersonal. Medicine is about more than mere medical technology. Research shows if patients feels safe and comfortable, their chance of recovery is much greater. We have a lovely culture in Pembrokeshire, but we will only keep it if we fight for it. Everyone should write to our MPs and to Ashley Warlow at Pembrokeshire Community Health Council, to offer support. Write to those responsible for health issues at the Assembly, make sure they get hundreds of letters. Write to SWAT and to Chris Martin at the project board - tell him just what you think of the proposals.

John Davies 45 New Road, Haverfordwest.