SIR,

Please don't destroy our wonderful NHS through privatisation. We have the best health service in the world and we, the public, want to keep it that way. There's a large 38 Degrees petition showing that local people want their NHS protected.

Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) run by doctors will directly put extra work on them, taking them away from caring for and treating their patients.

Commissioning of clinical services will only lead to private companies making profits from the NHS. Any commissioning should be to charities and other not for profit companies to ensure that NHS funds are actually used for patient care.

What happens when a commercial contract ends? The provider will have put investment into the service and will have to raise the cost to meet their expenses and to increase their shareholders dividend.

All the changes are costing the NHS a great deal of money; Commissioning Groups will require more office space, staff and equipment, changing addresses and stationary is expensive, not to mention the redundancy payments for Primary Care Trust staff.

All this at a time when the government is cutting funding for hospitals and health care; where are the savings?

CCGs should protect the NHS by adopting the 38 Degrees amendments to their constitutions.

Barbara Fisher

(Ross-on-Wye)