Alan Milburn, Health Secretary, has today announced a consultation process which will involve distributing 12 million forms to health surgeries, chemists, and out patients departments throughout England and Wales to seek the public’s views on the NHS.

Michael Fabricant says: "Presumably the Government will remember Lichfield and Burntwood in this exercise. I hope that everyone who wants to keep the services at the Victoria Hospital, including the Maternity and Dialysis units, as well as the Hammerwich Hospital will fill in these forms and make their views known as clearly as possible as far as politeness allows! The more forms filled in and sent off, the better.

"In the meantime, I will table a Parliamentary Question to ask how much it has cost the National Health Service to print these 12 million forms and the accompanying leaflets and to distribute them all throughout the country. It’s a shame they could not have used the money on providing health care instead.

"In any event, Downing Street has leaked the Government’s long term plans for the NHS which have already been decided. So the 12 million leaflet distribution and ‘consultation exercise’, as the Government calls it, would seem to be a complete waste of time and just a costly publicity stunt. At least at a local level, we can use the ‘exercise’ to make our views known on the Vic and the Hammerwich Hospital".