of two I read your front page article 'Baby Unit Could Move' with interest. However, the report seems to have missed the central issue here, this is not that Bromsgrove mums might have to travel to Worcester but rather that critically sick babies will have to travel from Redditch to Worcester if there is no Special Care Baby Unit at the Alexandra Hospital.

From your article it would appear that the hospital are concerned that they can't offer a clinically safe service with the staff they have available. I would ask them if they think they can offer a clinical safe maternity service to Bromsgrove if they don't have the backup of the SCBU and what steps they are taking to ensure mothers whose babies may be at risk do not have them delivered at the Alex?

While most women can expect a safe and uncomplicated delivery, with no requirement for significant medical intervention, mothers with known risk factors and most first-timers (for whom the risk may not be known) are likely to want to be delivered at a hospital that has the backup available if their babies need it.

If, as your article states, the NHS can get the staff they need in Worcester their apparent inability to get staff for the SCBU at the Alex can only been seen as a management failure or an attempt to use the cover of patient safety to reduce cost by closing our local SCBU.

The town's PCT have the power to determine where the money allocated to treat local people flows. They should use these powers to protect services.

Ewan Davis

Woodcote Manor

Kidderminster Road, Bromsgrove