SIR,

I read with interest, and growing concern, the article published in the Monmouthshire Beacon regarding new rules for hospital referrals.

Are we now living in a Welsh dictatorship? Who has the authority to make changes of this gravity without any citizen consultation?

I have always considered myself to be British. Of my 50 years working life, 60 per cent was spent in England and 40 per cent in Wales.

During both periods I assumed that my tax and National Insurance contributions went into the UK treasury; not the England treasury or the Wales treasury.

These contributions went to support a National Health Service; not an England Service or Welsh Service or Scotland Service or Northern Ireland Service, it was a National Service.

With this National Service came freedom of choice. Now it would seem this freedom of choice has been taken from Welsh residents by a faceless dictatorial individual.

I live in Monmouth; I am 75 years of age and my wife is 72. If I had to go into either the Royal Gwent or Abergavenny hospitals my wife would not visit me as she would be terrified of trying to park her car.

We have lived here for 30 years and have always had any required hospital treatment in Hereford.

For us it is easier to get there, easier to park and all our records are there. On visiting my doctor on a post operation visit he was clearly extremely frustrated as he could not raise required details on his computer as (I'm advised) the Welsh Assembly will not permit electronic data transfer from a hospital in England to a surgery in Wales.

Alternatively, the reason may be that the computer systems are incompatible. If so, why is it not compatible?

At a time when we are advised that the health service is strapped for cash why are we duplicating computer systems? Is this another example of a disappearing National Health Service?

It seems ironic that only a few days ago the Welsh First Minister tried to convince the Labour Party Conference that the Labour Government in Wales was showing the rest of the UK how to manage the economy, the health service, unemployment, education, industry, job creation etc.

Was this before or after he had read the correspondence from Dr Adrian Peall to Mr David Davis MP, which strongly criticised certain health policies and bureaucracy in the Welsh Health Service or the recent highly critical report by the National Audit Office?

Recently we have seen Welsh sports persons proudly displaying medals won at the Olympic Games. These medals were Team GB medals and a very prominent feature of the opening ceremony was extolling, to the world, the virtues and widespread benefits of a GB National Health Service.

The definition of national in this instance means England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Who, in the Welsh Assembly, has the right to downgrade this definition? I consider this action is a serious breach of my human rights and I suggest it should be cancelled without delay.

T Crisp

(Monmouth)