Health rejig with indecent haste

From the archive, first published Tuesday 14th Feb 2006.

SIR - Many of your readers may not be aware that the current NHS consultations on the amalgamation of Strategic Health Authorities, the regionalisation of ambulance services and the future configuration of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are now about half way through their

14-week period.

Public meetings are few and far between, and consultation documents have only been distributed to certain statutory bodies. We know from talking to our constituents that there is a widespread feeling for two PCTs. This would involve retaining the South Worcestershire PCT and formalising the amalgamation of the Wyre Forest and the Redditch and Bromsgrove PCTs.

Two PCTs would reflect the genuine differences between the north, which looks to Birmingham for more specialised treatments, and the south of the county, which looks more often to Cheltenham, Gloucester and even Oxford, and ensure that NHS management does not lose touch with local populations. The NHS restructuring seems to be proceeding with almost indecent haste to save money, with hardly a consideration for its avowed mantra of a `patient-led NHS'.

There is real fear of a `done deal' and that the consultation is a sham, part of the Government's regionalisation by stealth.

COUN JUDY PEARCE (Wychavon District Council) and COUN DAVID McGRATH (Bromsgrove District Council).

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