In a media release on June 30 the PCT stated that 50 per cent of beds would close on Ailesbury Unit in Savernake because they were unable to recruit staff.

In the Gazette of July 15, Alison Knowles stated that they have recruited two members of staff and there will be a recruitment campaign, as there was a 40 per cent vacancy rate for healthcare assistants and qualified nursing staff. However, just one week later it was confirmed to me that all vacancies but one were filled or in the process; “Assuming that the Ward Manager recruit accepts the position when it is offered, then there is one last HCA (health care assistant) post to fill.” It must have been a very effective recruitment campaign with swift interviewing.

Congratulations to the PCT. The recruitment crisis, it seems, is over……. if there ever was one. I feel sorry, however, for the mothers-to-be hoping to give birth at the Paulton Birthing Unit which is looked after by Wiltshire Community Health Service. According to NHS Wiltshire the closure is “as the result of exceptional staffing circumstances”. Now that has a very familiar ring. A further inquiry made concerning the Ailesbury Unit budget being fined, if the average length of stay was over 17 days, was also answered. “There is no financial penalty for not meeting the target, rather there is a financial incentive/reward for meeting it.” It’s good to know the truth about that rumour.

I find it wholly inappropriate that clinical judgments concerning the discharge of patients could be influenced by financial reward. Hopefully this is just the sort of incentivised target that the new government will ensure is scrapped.

Val Compton, Kennet Place, Marlborough.