PATIENTS in Southampton will soon be able to keep in touch with friends and relatives all over the world, thanks to a new service at the city's General Hospital.

The hospital is to be used as a pilot site for Wellwishers, a new Internet telegram service set up especially for patients.

More than 350 hospitals are set to become involved in the scheme shortly and, as the first to take part in the initiative, Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust will take a small cut from every single Wellwisher telegram sent anywhere in the UK.

Friends using the site simply log on to Wellwishers, choose the hospital, type in the patient's name and ward details and then write them a message - just like a normal e-mail.

The message is then sent electronically to a Wellwishers representative who prints it out and delivers it to the hospital the same day.

Each telegram costs £2.95. For more information, visit www.wellwishers.co.uk