MAY I draw your attention to a potentially serious state of affairs which relates to NHS patients in Warminster.

This not only concerns some of those affected by the decision of the West Wiltshire Primary Care Trust, reported by the Wiltshire Times on March 19, to allow no new admissions to the Warminster Hospital as from April 1 a mere few days away but also those of us who are registered with The Avenue Surgery.

I have been aware for about eight weeks that the Primary Care Trust has yet to finalise a suitable contract with this practice that will permit GPs to continue to serve us after April 1 as they have so efficiently done in past years.

The way in which the process of agreeing a new contract has been conducted has in my estimation been too long delayed, is therefore unhelpful and does not have the wellbeing of patients as heart. As I understand it, if the Primary Care Trust does not put forward a contract that will allow our GPs to continue to provide for us the excellent services they have given to date, then our doctors, nursing staff and ancillary workers will not be allowed to freely serve us under the NHS.

To me this seems intolerable. How can our experienced and dedicated medicals be expected to serve hundreds of us daily, as they do at the moment, when they are put under such stress?

GH GROSE

Chairman

The Avenue Surgery Patients Participation Group

Warminster