THE warnings have been ringing out over the past five years. Now it's clearer than ever that hospital services in Worcestershire cannot cope with the demands placed on them.

When the highly controversial Investing in Excellence strategic health review began in the county, it became clear to many people what its end result would be - too few hospital beds.

The new Worcester hospital may well have wonderful facilities, but it has fewer beds than the sites it replaced. That's great news for those who manage to find room, but not for those who don't.

There can be little question that fewer beds and longer journeys for treatment have had a dramatic affect on many people's lives.

Now, we can reveal how red alerts at the hospital on two days this month have caused MP Peter Luff serious concerns.

He understands that all Worcestershire Royal's acute hospital beds were closed to admissions on both Monday, December 2, and Wednesday, December 11, and that happened without any serious incident or epidemic in the county.

Now he wants action. Dr Richard Taylor, the Wyre Forest MP, wants action. And local GPs want action.

The hospital seeks to reassure us by saying it has "robust" contingency plans in place to deal with a major emergency.

Let's hope that plan isn't put to the test by a major flu epidemic this winter.