IN the Times of January 9 (page 5) you reported on a Petition that KNOP (Keep our NHS Public) is organising to keep Community Health Services within the NHS in the area covered by the Clinical Commissioning Group covering West Devon.  I was present at this poorly attended CCG meeting in November.

First, your readers should be aware that this meeting was 'an engagement' with stakeholders, not a consultation, and consequently the CCG has no requirements to accept the points made.

It has been estimated that in the next few years there could be a shortage of some 12% of GPs in the South West, and the temptation might be for the CCG to find financially attractive alternatives that may not be acceptable to the general public, eg suggesting closure of a community hospital or moving or contracting current health services to suppliers who are out of the area.

In West Devon I understand that Tavistock Hospital has some 8,000 patients annually visiting its minor injuries unit.  The provision in Tavistock Hospital could be increased to lessen the pressure on GPs and the accident and emergency department in Derriford Hospital.

At the meeting in November Mr Clough and colleagues explained that in the next 25 years there could be a doubling of the 85 year old population in our area.  There will, therefore, be a need to shorten their stay in acute hospitals to free up beds for other patients who need acute treatment, and transfer them back into community hospitals or their own homes.  Any treatment they may subsequently need, whether nursing, occupational therapy or physio, etc, needs to be undertaken by experienced professionals who have regular professional training updates, and properly audited.

In West Devon we generally have to travel to Plymouth for consultations, which can involve transport/parking problems.  Would it not be more efficient for our local Hospital and GP surgeries to be used more widely by consultants for initial consultations?  It must overall be cheaper for them to travel than a number of people having to be transported to the acute hospital, and it would also cut down on the administration involved.

KNOP needs our support in its endeavours, we should all be involved with this engagement, it is after all our service which is under scrutiny.

R W Nand-lal

Tavistock

THE Clinical Commissioning Group risk being labelled obscure in their report in the January 9 edition.

They must know that there is a particularly large number of elderly people living in the South West and they should be aware that most people of 70 years or more are not very computer-wise or adept.

Yet they invite those people to use the internet to declare their interest in the group's proposals for changes to the provision of community health services, the aspect of health care that the elderly are most dependent upon.

Does the commissioning group have a postal address or telephone number? Without the public having recourse to either their recommendations will be grossly unrepresentative.

G Kirkpatrick

Tavistock