Blair says sorry

The Prime Minister wrote personally to apologise to Worthing mayor Tom Wye, saying "These errors are made from time to time, I'm afraid, in every organisation."

As the Herald reported two weeks ago, a letter from Mr Wye asking the Prime Minister to recognise the strength of opposition to the threats to local hospitals was sent to the Department of Transport, not the Department of Health.

Mr Blair defends the current threats to the hospitals as "a genuine attempt to ensure resources - which have been greatly expanded in recent years - are matched to local needs to provide the best possible care and treatment in a sustainable way."

See the full text of the letter below:

"Dear Major Wye,

Thank you for your letters of 10 and 25 October about the future of Worthing Hospital. I am very sorry your letter of 10 October was sent by mistake to the wrong department for a reply. These errors are made from time to time, I'm afraid, in every organisation.

I fully appreciate how strongly local communities feel about their hospitals and recognise that any suggestions of change can cause anxiety. From what you say, this is obviously the case in Worthing.

But as a local government leader yourself, you will know better than anyone why it is right that as many decisions on services and priorities are taken locally rather than nationally in Whitehall. You will also know how important it is that these decisions are taken after local consultation.

This is, I understand, exactly what is happening in relation to Worthing's hospitals. No final decisions have been made about their future. Instead the local NHS Strategic Authority is consulting widely with local people and the communities they serve on the future provision of health services right across Sussex and Surrey so they best meet the needs of patients.

It is not, in any way, a phoney consultation but a genuine attempt to ensure resources '“ which have been greatly expanded in recent years '“ are matched to local needs to provide the best possible care and treatment in a sustainable way. The result of this consultation will inform proposals which, if they require significant changes, will also be put out to full consultation. Final decisions will be made at a local level by your Primary Care Trust.

I am sure that you will recognise that the health service, like the services offered by local government, cannot stand still. In fact, the huge advances in medical science coupled with the rising expectations of the public make change in the NHS inevitable. The good news is that any decisions on health care will be taken within the context of significantly improved and expanded health service with many more staff and improved facilities.

The government also recognises, as our recent White Paper made clear, that an effective NHS responding to the needs of patients will provide as many services as possible close to where parents live '“ in their homes, in GP surgeries and in local hospitals. What is most important, of course, is that patients get the best possible care available.

The complexity of modern medicine means that treatment for some conditions and diseases will increasingly have to be offered in centres of excellence if lives are to be saved.

Getting the right balance between these two pressures is a challenge that all areas of the country '“ and indeed all modern health systems '“ are working to get right.

I hope this reassures you but also explains why it is not possible for me to intervene as you suggest. As I am sure the council would agree, the more decisions that are taken locally, the better chance of getting them right.

I am sure that you have already made the views of your community known but, in case you have not, the best person to contact is John Wilderspin, Chief Executive of West Sussex Primary Care Trust, so that your comments can be taken into account as part of the consultation process.

Thank you again for writing and apologies again for the initial mistake in our reply.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Blair"