THE current financial melt-down in the hospital trust running Gloucestershire Royal, Cheltenham General and Stroud Maternity Unit raises a number of questions.

First – how did the organisation providing our health services manage to miscount its pennies to the tune of £16 million? A deficit of £11 million when a surplus of £5 million was expected.

With each Byzantium reorganisation of our health provision we are promised efficiency and excellency and we receive debt and demoralised staff. Gloucestershire Royal was routinely misseding its four-hour A&E waiting time target, during the summer.

I’m not sure finding £11m down the back of the medicine tray is going to have a beneficial impact when we need the service.

Secondly, what is going to be the impact on Stroud’s much loved maternity unit? The powers that be have previously eyed the unit for closure – apparently it was considered more efficient for the good folk of Stroud district to traipse over to Gloucester or Cheltenham to have their babies, timing their contractions on the way, (and breath).

I am calling on the trust’s new chief executive Deborah Lee, to make a statement that the Stroud District Maternity Unit will be kept open and supported into the foreseeable future.

And finally what is going to be the impact on the minor injuries and illness unit?

The additional nurses required by the Care and Quality Commission means more costs, which Gloucestershire Care Services (I know, it’s difficult to keep track of who is running what in our lean, mean health machine), were hoping to get from the Hospital Trust. What does the deficit mean for this plan?.

We need a joined-up health service, we need Parliament to pass the NHS reinstatement bill, we need and healthcare to be provided as a service not a commercial activity

Sarah Lunnon Green party county councillor Stroud Central