SIR – Re J Bear’s letter (T&A, December 6). Only the last two sentences about the Liverpool Pathway gives any hint that there could have been any abuse, when in reality the way Liverpool Pathway has been used in some general hospitals has been a national scandal.

Hospitals ignoring BMA guidelines on keeping patients and relatives informed, putting people on the pathway who should not be there, case after case of abuse in the news, some victims going to law and in some cases police involvement.

An absolute mess in the light of the abuses reported from around the country. The Government has now said there is to be a root-and-branch inquiry into the Liverpool Pathway in the new year.

We must move away from this blind faith that we have in NHS staff.

J Bear sounds like a good, compassionate, long-serving nurse, but we must come to terms with the fact that among one million-plus employees in the NHS there must be some bad apples who will abuse certain situations, and that is what has happened with the Liverpool Pathway.

The NHS seems to be hypersensitive to criticism – there should not be any organisations in the country that are above being criticised.

Alan Hough, Midland Road, Baildon