NEWS that Ipswich Hospital is to seriously reduce visiting times will no doubt cause great concern to many patients and families who have become used to calling in on their loved ones at any time during the afternoon and evening.

NEWS that Ipswich Hospital is to seriously reduce visiting times will no doubt cause great concern to many patients and families who have become used to calling in on their loved ones at any time during the afternoon and evening.

It is easy to understand why the hospital authorities are bringing in the restrictions - an open door policy certainly makes it easier to visit loved ones on the wards but it does make infection control very difficult.

But there does need to be an appreciation of the difficulties faced by the friends and families of those visiting people in hospital - and of the problems that such a restricted access could bring.

Parking is already very difficult at Heath Road, and by forcing all visitors into two one-hour slots during the day the pressure on the car parks is bound to increase.

That in turn is likely to lead to more “fly-parking” on streets near the hospital - residents of the Australia estate could face more problems.

The authorities also need to reconsider the fact that the minimum car-park charge is for two hours if the maximum visiting time is one-hour.

The problem of infection control is, of course, magnified by visitors to the hospital. Staff, and most visitors, are aware of the problems but it only takes a few people to come in with dirty shoes or to fail to wash their hands and all the good work can be undone.

The visiting time restrictions may be one way of combating the problem of hospital infections, but authorities do need to keep the issue under review and see if there are any other solutions which could combat infection without causing too much inconvenience to those already in a stressful situation.

ANTI-social behaviour is a term which can describe a catalogue of evils - from mild irritations to problems which can quite literally make some people's lives a real misery.

But the scale of the problem revealed in today's Star is a surprise - last year there was one call to the authorities about anti-social behaviour for every 15 people in the county.

Many incidents will attract more than one call, and many calls could be about the same people on different occasions.

However the number of calls indicates that anti-social behaviour in whatever form is a serious problem - and one that society as a whole needs to be aware of.

SIR Alf Ramsey masterminded this country's greatest sporting triumph. The World Cup is the planet's biggest sporting event - eclipsing the Olympics in terms of audience and money involved.

It is only right that his role in that triumph should be acknowledged on the site of his greatest hour. If his captain Bobby Moore deserves a statue at Wembley, so does Sir Alf.

Of course in Ipswich he holds a special place in the heart of football fans as the only manager to bring the League Championship to Suffolk. Let us hope this area's calls for recognition for the great man are heard in the corridors of power at the FA.