In its press release last week NHS Wiltshire said the reason for bed closures at Savernake Hospital was a recruitment problem.

NHS Wiltshire’s website had only one job vacancy advertised on Ailesbury Unit that I could find, hopefully all other vacancies are now filled.

It further said: “Our staff have undergone long periods of uncertainty due to last summer’s Judicial Review and we recognise that morale is low.”

The most likely reason for staff being uncertain and demoralised is through the actions of the PCT. After years of stressful rapid change, staff saw a fantastic new hospital emerge and morale soared. The new £9.5m Savernake re-opened in 2005, without an official opening ceremony.

Less than a year later it was suggested that it could be closed down. That plummeted morale to rock bottom.

Escaping complete closure, three purpose built major departments were axed in 2007 and the knock on effect was huge for this little community hospital and its patients.

Ailesbury Unit staff watched this destruction – it is unlikely to have filled them with confidence about their own future. The alleged ‘temporary’ closure of 50 per cent of beds may well add to their stress along with the pressure to hit targets. The worst one rumoured was that their sick elderly patients must be discharged within an average of 17 days, or their unit budget would be fined. That’s such huge pressure that I cannot believe it to be true and will seek clarification.

The long period of uncertainty and low morale has nothing to do with the Judicial Review. To even suggest it, is poppycock. The PCT should evaluate their own management style and reflect on what they’ve done to staff in the last few years. Even more importantly, the way they’ve done it. As employers, I doubt many would rate them highly. They have the sensitivity of a steamroller. Perhaps it’s time for them to change. A change of personnel from the top down would be a start.

Val Compton, Kennet Place, Marlborough.