HER Majesty The Queen may be a dignified and honourable lady, but surely NHS Scotland could show a little more imagination and find a more suitable name for their new Glasgow hospital.
Scotland has plenty of medical pioneers to chose from. Alexander Fleming, James Young Simpson and Joseph Lister come immediately to mind.
There is something uncomfortably sycophantic about yet another public building being given a royal title at a time when it is quite clear that UK establishment institutions like the monarchy hold little interest for a substantial proportion of Scotland's population. To deny that reality by adopting a "business as usual" attitude to the naming of public buildings is somewhat insulting to those who do not regard the monarchy in its present form as a desirable or necessary part of Scotland's future.
Dave Stewart,
6 Blairatholl Avenue, Glasgow.
I AGREE with the comments made by Iain AD Mann and Paul Cochrane (Letters, July 7) regarding the naming of the new hospital, but the letters from Merlin Kemp and Ailsa Ferguson (Letters, July 4) flagged up greater concerns, including the serving of unpalatable food and longer waits for medicines and test results. This is unacceptable, especially in relation to very sick children, and these issues, none of which are insurmountable, nevertheless need to be speedily addressed and sorted.
As for the name of the hospital, Mr Mann suggests that Glaswegians could continue to call it the Southern General, but as the Victoria Infirmary was always known as the Vicky, perhaps the new place could be referred to as the Betty.
Ruth Marr,
99 Grampian Road,
Stirling.
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