THE image of the old-fashioned matron marching down the corridors barking at nursing staff has come back to haunt Wycombe Hospital.

The Government want hospitals to introduce a 'Modern Matron' but many agree with Ailsa Harrison, chief officer of the South Bucks Community Health Council, that the term conjures up an out-dated image.

She said: "Matron is a bit of a contradiction to have alongside the word modern. People just think of Hattie Jacques from Carry on Laughing when they think of a matron."

The idea is that hospitals adopt the Modern Matron as a more up-to-date figure to preside over a number of wards and also be 'approachable' to patients' families if they have any concerns.

However, Ailsa says that many staff will still think of a matron as a figure they were terrified of and who used to bark orders. But some members of the public tend to add to the cry of 'bring back matron' to cure all the ills in hospitals.

At the election forum held at the Midweek's sister paper, The Free Press, prospective parliamentary candidate for Wycombe, Christopher Cooke, of the UK Independence Party, made his comments on the subject clear.

He said: "We want to see a more traditional approach to management. We want to see a return to matron, the single line of command like we had before."

But the Government want to ditch the 'military' management approach and put forward a much more modern image.

However, at a meeting of the South Bucks NHS Trust Board, last Tuesday, members expressed concern that they already have ward managers and other senior members of staff so they will have to be careful that the new modern matron does not step on anyone's toes.