The statement by Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust that staff are allowed to park in vacated visitor's areas (Parking inadequate', April 19) was to say the least a very dismissive response to a very real problem.

It stands to reason that staff should arrive before patients and visitors on a normal working day, hence the problem that when the public begin to arrive in large numbers half of the spaces in the public car park have been taken by staff.

The trust has no measures in place to encourage its staff to reduce car usage, such as car sharing or using public transport. Indeed, there is little disincentive to car use when staff have parking concessions of as little as 25p a day, and even those on top salaries only pay £1.

It is encouraging that the trust is asking Transport for London (TfL) to improve public transport to the hospital, but we should not hold our breath. A proposal for a shuttle minibus between the station forecourt, the Spires and the hospital was put to TfL a couple of years ago and firmly rejected.

In the meantime, the public deserves a better deal. The trust has effectively reneged on the original deal for an equitable division of parking spaces between staff and public.

It hardly inspires public confidence in plans for greater centralisation of services when sick and infirm patients facing difficult journeys across the borough cannot park anywhere near the hospital.

And an organisation that is heavily in debt should surely be seeking to maximise income from its assets. It could probably earn another £300,000 a year or more just by ensuring that the public car parking areas are kept free for public use.

Susie Neal Barnet Residents Association Hadley Highstone, Barnet