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Save hospital masterpieces
• AS a former student of UCL/Middlesex medical school and a working doctor, I am appalled UCLH has decided to sell its pictures on the open market (Masterpieces that may be hidden from view, June 21).
The unique and treasured Acts of Mercy paintings by Frederick Cayley Robinson now have a doubtful future. And when the next round of Whitehall top-down directives comes in, what next will be disposed of ?
Perhaps the marble from the beautiful Middlesex Hospital chapel – is that too to be ‘scrapped’ ? That also deserves a proper new home.
The paintings have a treasured place in the heart of every doctor, nurse, patient, and visitor who has ever passed through the Middlesex.
They act as a visual aide memoire of why we act as we do, to serve others, to make an exta effort, to be kind and understanding to those less fortunate than ourselves, to be the best we can. These pictures are not decoration, they are integral to the ethos of a large, historic, academic hospital, a hospital that is still, I know, committed to these values. They must not be sold on the open market. They should be reinstated in a public space, and preferably in the UCH building, if not, the Tate, or Imperial War Museum.
Well done Sir Nicholas Serota, and the CNJ, for highlighting the campaign to keep these much loved pictures in the UK, and hopefully in London.
DAVID HALL
Twisden Road, NW5
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