SADLY the NHS is not guaranteed to be safe as a publicly provided, publicly funded and publicly accountable service in the hands of either of the main political parties despite recent letters (Opinion, January 29).

New Labour still has a voice within the Labour Party and they were responsible, locally, for the downgrading of our charter-marked, acute general hospital and nationally for the promotion of the private finance initiative for building hospitals. Alan Milburn, Labour Health Secretary in May 2002, told the Commons Health Select Committee that the attraction of the PFI “is that we can get more hospitals built more quickly” regardless of the arguments “whether it is good value for money, bad value for money, and all these different things”. Parts of the country are now saddled with huge PFI payments as a first call on their resources.

One of the reasons why I wish to be re-elected as Wyre Forest’s MP in May, is that an independent voice is again necessary to tell the major political parties what people really need and hope for, in relation to health and other matters, regardless of the edicts of political party whips.

Dr Richard Taylor MBE FRCP Prospective

Parliamentary Candidate for Health Concern