THE Evening News issue of Friday, February 21, concerning the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, made alarming reading.

Trust chairman Michael O'Riordan's defence of the performance of the trust was pretty uninspiring.

But, to be fair to him, he has certainly been left holding the poison chalice as the perpetrators of this unworkable system have all baled out before the proverbial hits the fan.

I must congratulate Dr Neville on coming forward to highlight the problems that he has experienced in trying to get his patients admitted urgently to hospital.

It's very sad indeed to hear that he and other doctors are leaving or retiring early because of the disgraceful mess the trust is in. As pointed out in a recent letter, the new hospital contains 90 beds fewer than the hospitals in Worcester it was built to replace.

When you add the loss of 300 beds at Kidderminster, it's pretty obvious with such massive cuts in bed numbers why the hard-working staff and ambulance service are struggling to cope with a system that's clearly unworkable.

My advice to MP Mike Foster is to work with MP Richard Taylor in getting services, including A&E, returned to Kidderminster General as soon as possible to help alleviate pressure on the Worcester Royal.

This would give the people of Worcestershire a health service they deserve and - incidentally - also pay for.

A NORTH, Stourport-on-Severn.