The campaign to keep full services at the Alexandra Hospital will only succeed if it can be shown that the closures will not make the savings that are claimed and that the harm to patients will be unacceptable.

If A & E is transferred to Worcester, all that will be left in Redditch is a minor injuries unit. This will not be open at weekends, so everyone will have to go to Worcester. If the Alex's paediatric unit is transferred, the gynaecology and maternity units will almost certainly follow. This will leave a hospital will little left to justify keeping it open. The result will be a grossly over-crowded hospital in Worcester and travelling patients put at greater risk. It also appears that many clinical procedures cost more to carry out at Worcester than at other local hospitals, so many of the transfers to Worcester will put up costs.

The private contract which controls what happens at Worcester hospital specifies that, if bed occupancy exceeds 90 per cent, the hospital has to pay a fine to the contractors. Yes, this is the grotesque result of using private contractors to build our hospitals! So sending 40,000 more patients a year to Worcester is likely to enrich the private contractors while benefiting no-one else. The hospital trust has to save £26 million a year to survive. Worcester hospital has to pay rent of £27 million each year, before it treats a single patient, to the private contactors that built it. Is it just a coincidence that this is almost the same as the hospital's annual debt?

Hot off the press Government documents talk about "a patient led NHS" and "choice for patients". If the Alex is downgraded to just a minor injuries unit, or worse, these words will be shown to be fraudulent.

We should recognise that the blame for this predicament lies with the Government. Unfortunately, Tory policy would be much the same.

It is good to see that Government Minister Jacqui Smith is supporting the campaign to save the Alex. She can do this most effectively by speaking up in Westminster against the Government policies that created this situation. If the Alex is seriously downgraded, she will probably lose her seat at the next election.

Neil Holmes

Bromsgrove