IT would seem ill-judged and something of an over-compensation on the part of the Acute Hospitals Trust even to consider attaching the word "Royal" to the new general hospital.
I am no royalist. But I have sufficient respect for the Queen as a figurehead, and the example she sets of leadership and high standards, to regard it as ironic and discordant in the extreme that the Health Authority and Trust boards should seek to bolster their flagging reputations by involving the Queen in this way.
It would have been more discreet to keep a low profile and hope that the shortfall in beds will cause fewer disasters than it might, and that taxpayers might soon forget about the wastage of modern buildings and resources at Kidderminster compounded now by the staggering sums of money being thrown at the proposed ambulatory centre.
The Hospital Trusts and the HA seem constantly to use the Press to project a warm, cuddly image offering biographical detail and why they are passionately committed to health management.
I'm not sure why we're interested in this - we don't seem to be subjected to similarly wearisome "soap detail" from Social Services, Education or Police management, also suffering from a poor Press.
Perhaps there is a notion that someone, somewhere, will receive a gong from the Cabinet Office at some stage. Perhaps they shouldn't hold their breath. In another arm of the Press, The New Statesman recently carried a very positive interview with the prospective parliamentary candidate for the Wyre Forest, Dr Richard Taylor.
No need to contrive to trumpet-blow here. Martin Bell stood as an independent and has proved to be an efficient, committed member.
It is the public, not health management, that is carrying the flag for excellence.
WENDY HANDS,
Upton-upon-Severn.
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