IT was on the cards a long time before the Great Western Hospital opened that there would be teething troubles and anxieties about a range of problems from waiting lists to a shortage of parking places.

From the time it was on the drawing board everybody who has any claim to expertise knew the hospital was not going to be big enough.

And moving something as complex as a hospital to a brand new building was never going to be easy.

At the end of its first year, however, let's give credit for all the good things about the GWH.

It has bright comfortable wards, well-designed accommodation for outpatient clinics, space, state-of-the-art equipment and worthwhile peripheral amenities, including a shop and a restaurant, which provide convenience for patients and visitors.

Niggles and problems will continue to occur. But hopefully during its second year the GWH will be able to iron out many of the creases.

In the meantime, perhaps we should heed the words of Mayor Derek Benfield in a letter to the Advertiser yesterday following his wife Pam's discharge from the GWH. In some countries, he pointed out, patients have their purse felt before their pulse when in need of hospital and emergency services.