February 26, 2001 16:53: THE Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries, may be a fine clergyman but his sermon in last week's Free Press could have done with a little more work before reaching the printed pulpit.

He has a go at the press for its "destructive and often unjustified criticism" of the NHS (yawn, yawn) and then hits out in the most destructive and indiscriminate way, at the entire media.

Papers do go over the top at times in criticism but to blame poor morale in the health service and teaching, as he does, just on the media is a bit rich.

Don't you think, Bishop, that too many long hours, poor pay and too much paperwork would have rather more to do with low morale than a couple of paragraphs in the paper?

The sad fact is that those of us who have recently had dealings with the NHS do find ourselves presented with a very mixed picture.

When my mother became very ill with cancer, she was on the whole treated very well by the health service in the area concerned (not South Bucks by the way).

Surgeons operated with great skill. Consultants treated her with kindness and some of the nurses were great.

One doctor in particular was skilful and kind beyond words. He treated his patient as a person rather than just a collection of symptoms as others were wont to do. He asked about her family, took time to suggest seemingly trivial things that would help relieve her symptoms.

It would be wrong however to say that everyone who dealt with Mum was as good. Some of the nurses seemed disinterested, there was lack of communication at times and information given was of poor quality.

In one case a junior doctor told us that my mother had two months to live.

Quite untrue and as it turned out, something he could not have known. She lived for another two years.

It should be said that mum was always full of praise for the hospital and those staff who had been kind to her.

It is all too easy for people like Mr Harries to have a go at papers for criticising the NHS.

It is all too easy for a publicity machine to swat away our inquiries with statements of the blandest and most general nature.

But that will not do any of us any good. Doctors and nurses do make mistakes. And yes Mr Harries I admit, even journalists do. The point is to discuss matters openly as often as we can.

That is why it was so refreshing last week to read the detailed and thoughtful comments of David Griffiths of South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust in reactions to complaints made by an ex-nurse.

This surely is the way forward, rather than the sermonising of Mr Harries.Bishop should practise what he preaches

By Paul Ryan