THE news that Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust has succeeded in its bid, and that the new renal unit will be running at Kidderminster Hospital next year, is very good, but is the trust merely offering us a sweetie to stop the children from crying?

Every week we hear more examples of chaos and confusion, and worse, resulting from the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital, and exacerbated by the hasty closure of services before adequate alternatives were in place.

How long a catalogue of discomforts and disasters has to be accumulated before the authorities accept that the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital was a dismal error which needs to be reversed as soon as possible.

The conditions at Ronkswood are deplorable - shortage of staff, no facility for isolating dangerously infected patients, a plague of cockroaches and conditions have not improved in 20 years or more.

Why did Worcestershire Health Authority not retain Kidderminster Hospital and downgrade Ronkswood?

Kidderminster is no further from Worcester than is Worcester from Kidderminster.

The health authority and its offshoot the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust, have behaved inconsiderately throughout and with arrogance.

It is too much to expect them to do the honourable thing and resign.

How soon can we expect to receive some relief for our very serious grievances?

C HEARN BUCK

Richmond Road

Bewdley