SIR – I have a question for the myriad of health managers who are in charge of our local hospitals.

If they downgrade a lot of the procedures at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and transfer them to Worcestershire Royal Hospital (Worcester News, February 28), where are the extra people going to park at Worcestershire Royal?

The inadequacies of car parking, due to the needs of the private finance initiative (PFI) – the crippling money making racket invented by the Tories and continued by New Labour – are well documented on the Worcester News letters pages.

I am a regular user of Worcestershire Royal as an outpatient but have to use a taxi to get there.

Many times I have seen stressed-out people who are late for appointments, or miss accompanying elderly patients to appointments due to these totally inadequate facilities.

Add the poor unfortunates from Redditch to the mix and things will only get worse.

I gather that the move is being made, among other reasons, because the Alexandra, like many hospitals, is losing money.

How can a hospital lose money? It is a service funded by the public purse, not a business that has to make a profit.

The minute the first patient walks in the door it is losing money.

The public is being brainwashed by such terms in order that ultimately the private sector will take over without a murmur.

Adding the profit motive to the mix and you get what you see with the car parking at Worcestershire Royal.

The original site was large enough for extensive car parking but, as the PFI was used, a large part of the site was used as money-making private office space.

So whatever happens it is a case of heads big business wins, tails we lose.

TERRY JAMES

Pershore