Sir: In many well known hospitals the nursing staff is not cooperative with the patients. Many complaints are made but there is no response from the staff of the hospitals. Especially in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), cleanliness is very important but, in most of the hospitals, cleanliness is given least importance. It is the responsibility of the nursing staff to take care of the patients and talk to them in a gentle way as the patients are in a critical situation. However, the nursing staff behaves harshly and rudely, and sometimes does not even respond, which is not very kind of them. The authorities and staff of hospitals should pay attention and try to solve this problem faced by many people. JAMILA ZOEB Karachi