THE proposal to downgrade emergency surgery provision at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital is a nonsense.

How can Preston Hospital cope with the 47,000 people who, according to Mr Curtis, chief executive of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, use the A&E department in Chorley every year?

Decisions which dictate Chorley losing its emergency surgery provision illustrate what is really wrong with our health service.

They are being made by highly paid executives who do not care about human services, but believe they are financial wizards.

Does Mr Curtis consider the expense, not to mention the inconvenience of travelling to Preston for hospital treatment?

If Muntzer Munghal, consultant surgeon, is to be believed, that "it is not possible to maintain the range of emergency services in Chorley" then representation needs to be made by MP Lindsay Hoyle to the person with ultimate responsibility for our health services, John Reid at the Department of Health.

At the same time questions need to be asked about the role of the hospital trust in these matters.

For goodness sake, Chorley and South Ribble boroughs are growing in terms of populations.

Present services are the minimal acceptable and the hospital trust should be seeking ways to increase them, in my opinion, in order to cater for future needs.

David Jolly, Long Croft Meadow, Chorley.