David Hampden-Smith, of East Portlemouth, writes: Closure of Dartmouth Minor Injuries Unit – Kingsbridge MIU next? With the albeit 'temporary' closure of Dartmouth's MIU and the shortage of qualified nurses being cited as the reason, I would like to put ­forward some points for debate. In business the law of supply and demand prevails: when there is a shortage of a commodity, it takes on an increased value and invariably is then available at an increased price. At the moment there is a shortage of nurses within the NHS. This has many causes, but the main one is that they are undervalued. Nurses nowadays have long training: they require five GCSEs at grade C or above, a minimum of two A-levels, including one science subject, and then a university course of up to three years. At the end of this the successful staff nurse will be on a salary scale starting at around £21,500. That is for working antisocial hours, with huge responsibilities, dealing with sick and vulnerable people and with vomit and faeces etc. They often have no time for meal breaks and have to undergo additional training courses. If a nurse should make a small mistake, they are liable to lose their nursing registration. They are simply not given the credit or salaries they deserve. According to mysalary.co.uk, the average salary for a staff nurse in the UK is £26,998. The average salary for a dustman in the UK is £25,875. We need dustmen – they are essential to our way of life, they perform a great service to our communities and are worth their salaries. Perhaps nurses, with all their training and responsibilities, deserve a larger differential in salary. So surely Dr Adam Morris, medical director of Southern Devon Health and Care Trust, you would be able to provide the community of Dartmouth with the medical service it deserves if you make the salary offered for the job more ­attractive. Perhaps your ­perceived value of the Dartmouth MIU is less than the value the wider community puts on the service.