Will MP also be supporting the NHS changes?

Perhaps he could tell us how long there will be a hospital in Dewsbury and what sort of facilities there will be for NHS patients under the new legislation?

I read with increasing horror accounts of the legislation proposed by the Conservative party for the future of the NHS and feel concerned that people are not aware of all the facts – I certainly wasn’t.

The clinical commissioning groups to be set up will be unelected bodies. As I understand it decisions on patient care will be outsourced to companies with commercial interests. Formerly free services on the NHS will become chargeable. The monitor, which will regulate the economics, is a quango of unelected persons which will decide on purely financial grounds what type of hospital services there will be in an area.

At the moment there is joined-up medical care but this will not be the case in the future and services will come and go depending on whether they are viable revenue generators or not.

What patients need is reassurance, continuity and support – not constant worry as to whether they are going to be sidelined because they cost too much!

The government is said to have assessed the financial risks, but why has this risk register not been released yet for us all to see?

Doctors are highly trained in their profession. Are they highly trained to spend their time buying health care? I note that under the legislation this service may be contracted out. How much will that cost?

The legislation refers to services provided free at the point of use through the NHS, and what is not?

Yes, support the dignity campaign by all means Mr Reevell, but it would be interesting to know whether you will be supporting this new legislation or whether you will be looking after the provision of services and care for the people in North Kirklees in the future and ensuring that all the facilities will be there for them when they need it, regardless of their ability to pay.

JOAN LESLIE

Wheatley Drive

MIRFIELD