Sir -What an interesting front page by James Connell on Saturday 26 March. 
So, now we know definitely that the NHS is safe in the Government`s hands and will be kept along the lines that it was set up – free at the point of delivery for all those that use it?
Sorry, no, that statement is incorrect! It`s free as long as you aren`t fat, don`t smoke, don`t drink too much alcohol and are basically fit |and mentally healthy; in other words you don`t have recourse to use the NHS greatly during your lifetime.
How appalling that we are being asked to make a choice as to where cuts should be made to make up the £25m deficit in our local NHS!
Let`s pause and think; now who in our society is most likely to use the NHS? 
The elderly, ah that`s a no go area as regards cuts as this part of the population are the ones who vote and usually for whichever government is in power. 
So who are the next most frequent users of the NHS?
 It must be all those in the lower income bracket because they have an unhealthy lifestyle, not by choice, but because they can`t afford fresh meat, vegetables and fruit. 
Another frequent user of the NHS are the homeless, whose numbers increased by 30 per cent over the past two years for a variety of reasons including the “Bedroom Tax”. 
They arrive at A&E are patched up and sent on their way until the next traumatic incident. 
People suffering from mental health problems are so numerous and neglected as there are so few mental health practitioners that their problems escalate, having to wait so long before being properly attended to that the problem can also begin to affect their physical health.
So, who won`t be too bothered about these cuts and choices?
 It must be those who can afford private health insurance and all those in the higher income bracket who can soon look forward to buying shares in companies waiting & ready to privatise the NHS & make a fortune-it`s already happening around the country! 
One Nation?  No, it`s a Divided Nation= Broken Nation
Geraldine Lowman
 Worcester

Austerity was not my choice
 Sir, - Following your article, ‘NHS Cuts Crisis’ (Worcester News 26.3.16), your readers may well be moved to respond to the health commissioners’ survey.  Before they do, they  should be aware of the following.
Our health services are short of money because George Osborne has chosen austerity for Britain. 
This Tory government has chosen not to give Worcestershire’s NHS enough money. But austerity has consequences.  Why should the public be asked to choose which patients will suffer the consequences of the inadequate budget? 
 I didn’t choose austerity. I would prefer that George Osborne chose to fund the health services we need, rather than give more tax cuts to the wealthy.
Lynn Denham
Worcester

Patients are the losers
 Sir - We all know the NHS is creaking at the seams and facing financial collapse but when the situation in your own locality is spelled out it makes it somehow  more real.
 The three Clinical Commissioning Groups in Worcestershire are looking to make £25 million savings, as otherwise they will be over budget, and have come up with potential economies.
 Every one of the suggestions will upset someone and whatever is eventually decided patients will be the losers. Increased pressure on our NHS has come  from various directions including an increase in population through uncontrolled immigration.
 This country has always welcomed immigration but the extra strain to our infrastructure, highlighted by the aforementioned necessary savings, underlines  how our public services are straining to  cope  with the extra demands, leading to the logical conclusion that we must regain control over our borders. 
 That does not, as the alarmists amongst us might suggest, mean pulling up the drawbridge but introducing a points system, such as exists in Australia,  to let in those whose services we genuinely need.
James Carver
West Midlands UKIP MEP 


Respect our NHS workers
Sir - Re: Helen Smart’s letter; “Astonished by opinion on striking doctors”; hear, hear for taking George Cowley to task over some of his twisted opinions that appear regularly in these  columns.
I have lost count of the times Mr. Cowley asked for police salaries to be trebled, but he has a very low opinion of our dedicated NHS doctors and nurses, they are just as professional  and deserve an equally comparable salary and improved working conditions.
Also Mr Cowley regularly professes his Christianity, yet on more than one occasion he claimed charity should start at home and not with the overseas poor. 
 I wonder which part of the Bible teaching he developed that stance from?
Ms. JR Price
Worcester


Eye team did a brilliant job
Sir -  My new eye. My long-time friend and Optician Nic Sproson said to me on a recent visit, “Godfrey I’m sending you to hospital to see if you need
 a cataract operation.” I was experiencing mild difficulty in seeing the detail of what the Warriors were doing wrong, from my seat in the stand.
So the wheels turned, in short order, and I was scheduled for a “new left eye” in October last. 
 The ‘team’ of nurses were brilliant  at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, while I contemplated how they were going to put a new lens in the back of my, one and only left eye. Not a pleasant thought!
The nurses persuaded me that all would be well, even though I was to be conscious all the time.  
My daughter Wendy ‘dropped me off’  and collected me just two hours later – looking a bit like ‘Long John Silver’ with a patch, and I didn’t feel a thing.
My new eye revealed, less than 24 hours later, that the world was a very colourful place, the result being absolutely amazing.  
Had  my second ‘new eye’ last week and again the ophthalmic ‘team’ were nothing short of wonderful. 
They are a dedicated bunch of experts who obviously enjoy their work and are a real credit to our NHS – my sincere thanks to them.
Godfrey Harvey.
Worcester
 
Physio cuts will cost dear
 Sir - The recent proposals by Redditch and Bromsgrove, South Worcestershire and Wyre Forest CCGs to cut NHS services include restrictions on access to physiotherapy.
 We are greatly concerned about the impact this would have on patients as minor conditions left untreated can become more               serious and require higher levels of care. 
This would in turn bring greater costs for the NHS.
 When similar proposals were made in Essex a few months back we worked closely with the commissioners and the local physio team to come up with a plan B and last week the CCG approved that plan.
  That statement from us reflects on that decision and encourages your local CCGs to seek another solution.
 I hope it is of interest and please let me know if you would like any further information.
Jon Ryan
Head of Press & PR
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP)