Regarding your report about nurses on wards at night (The Argus, September 12), having retired as a health care assistant at the end of March, I worked at hospitals on night duty for almost 24 years.

We felt for years that it was unsafe practice to only have two trained nurses and one health care assistant on the wards at night, making the workload almost impossible most of the time.

Does it now take the failings in Staffordshire to prove the point?

The NHS needs to wake up and really look into staff shortages, with fewer pen-pushers and more nurses. Better patient care makes sense.

Mrs W Charlton, Westfield Avenue North, Saltdean