I was, of course, concerned by Elizabeth Sykes' letter in a recent edition of the Hereford Times.

Health and social care organisations do recognise the considerable contributions made to the care of older people by relatives such as Mrs Sykes, and we welcome feed-back about the services we provide so that we can improve them.

Having several professionals visiting is exactly what we are currently working to avoid by what we call a "single assessment process".

As your readers would expect, there is great demand for such services in a county with a greater than average population of older people. As a result, we cannot help everyone immediately, but respond to those in greatest need first.

We were made aware of Mr Sykes' needs on Thursday, October 2, 2003. We wrote to the family telling them there would be a delay and that they should let us know if the situation became urgent.

They did this on Monday, November 3 and a social worker visited on Wednesday, November 5. I am pleased to say that Mr Sykes began day care on Wednesday, November 12, 2003.

Stephanie Canham,

Head of Social Care (Adults)

Director of Social Care & Strategic Housing, Herefordshire Council.