I read your report on the "part-time chief executive" for the Kennet & North Wilts PCT, in the Marlborough & Pewsey edition, with sadness as it implied the board of Kennet & North Wilts PCT wanted a part-time option.

My understanding is that could not be further from the truth. The Kennet & North Wilts PCT are being put out to franchise due to pressure from the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority via the Department of Health. I am not sure the Kennet & North Wilts PCT has been given any latitude to depart from this way forward.

I believe across Kennet and North Wiltshire we all very much appreciated the work Barbara Smith and her team achieved in its short life. The consultation was open and inclusive even if we don't like all the outcomes. If we want to move positively forward we must petition for a full -time chief executive and the PCT must have its own robust management structure. This will ensure that the Kennet & North Wilts PCT can continue to meet the challenges of providing a local comprehensive health service.

I would encourage residents of Kennet and North Wiltshire to support the Kennet & North Wilts PCT board and protest loudly on their behalf to the Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority and to the Department of Health that we do not want to be a guinea pig for franchising. We want and deserve a full-time chief executive.

The Strategic Health Authority might think it can get away with this quietly. We need to protest now. The Strategic Health Authority can be contacted at Jenner House, Langley Park Estate, Chippenham, SN15 1GG.

If we think life is tough now with closures I think if this franchising proposal is adopted things could get a whole lot tougher.

M West

Chief Officer

Voluntary Action Kennet

Pewsey