Dr. Sladden, our local dermatologist, is in the process of closing his practise largely as a result of the low fees paid for diagnosis and treatment of cancerous skin conditions.

After tax and payment of staff and office expenses I believe he clears $27 per visit, an amount controlled by the present Minister of Health and the B.C. Medical Association.

We are in the midst of extensive renovations of our home. We have had a variety of tradespersons involved in the process. Not any one of them works for as little as the meagre hourly rate that the province chooses to pay Dr. Sladden, who is engaged in the business of saving the lives of cancer patients.

As a former cancer sufferer and patient of Dr. Sladden's I can attest to the fact that he is extremely conscientious in his approach to medicine, and certainly not in favour of increasing his income at the expense of the quality of treatments provided to his patients.

Many of us have encountered the," wham, bam, thank you ma'am," conveyer belt treatment provided by many walk-in clinics, where interview, diagnosis, and treatment is completed in less than five minutes.

We need our Kamloops dermatologists; surely we can afford more than a pittance to keep them.

LEONARD HEMMING

Kamloops