THIS week the South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust said it "deplored" the actions of a Malvern dental surgery in charging people a £39.45 consultation fee before considering taking them on as new NHS patients.

The move was branded "opportunistic" by the PCT and does appear to be taking advantage of people's desperate need for NHS dental care in Malvern.

At £39.45 each, the 200 NHS places being offered by Parsons Dental Care will bring in nearly £8,000.

On the other hand, the fact that dozens of people were happy to queue for hours just for the chance to sign up shows the surgery is providing a much-needed service, one it is well entitled to charge for and isn't it the responsibility of the PCT to ensure there is a sufficient NHS service?

While the Government promises to "save the NHS" the reality on the ground is often quite different.

Only this week, we have Malvern Hills District Council offering to borrow the money to build a new Malvern hospital, which may well prove to be the only way we will get a new hospital.

You would have thought this move, coupled with last week's withdrawal of the Pickersleigh depot site, would have paved the way for a more constructive consultation based on what will actually be in a new hospital, but the PCT says it won't be changing its approach at the forthcoming public meetings. This would be a huge missed opportunity.

People should be presented with a genuine choice between properly costed options, otherwise we risk more delay while having to go through the whole process again.