Reader's Letter Of The Day

From The Times:

Sir, I, too, was chairman of our local community health council for four years (letters, Mar 1) and an elected governor to the Gloucestershire NHS Foundation Trust when it was first granted status. I resigned after two years, frustrated by the quangos, targets and continuously changing diktats.

Last year I wrote to the trust about the lack of an adequate number of hospital beds for emergency care. I was asked to give a presentation to the trust’s board of directors. I noted in this presentation that I had had letters from: the Service Delivery Directorate, the Complaints Department, Patient and Public Involvement Department, Director of Patient Experience Department, Director of Patient Safety Department, the Chief Executive and the Chairman of the Trust. All these departments have secretaries.

Much of this work used to be done by the community health council with one paid officer assisted by a team of professional volunteers. The NHS is top-heavy with management structures and patients are suffering.

Dawn Adams, Cheltenham.