WHAT on earth is happening to ‘our’ NHS? I refer to the maternity unit at Leighton, one of three maternity units in England selected by the Royal College of Midwives, for a prestigious award.

Potentially, NHS monies could be syphoned off away from Leighton Hospital and into the private company, which in most circumstances has to make a profit.

That is what businesses do.

So, the ever dependable and excellent maternity unit at Leighton, potentially loses ‘mums’, becomes non-viable, and possibly has to close.

Marvellous.

What if the private company decides it is not making enough profit, and walks away?

Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire, the first private hospital funded by the NHS, announced recently that it would be withdrawing from its contract after only three years.

Outside the NHS, we have numerous examples of care homes and, of course, the East Coast Main Line Railway contract about three years ago.

In all these cases, the public have to pick up the ‘tab’ and it is time we learned that some vital services should never be put into the hands of the private sector.

The £3bn spent so far on the NHS re-organisation is not working – the Conservative-led coalition government should have invested the money into improving what we already had – an excellent NHS.

I see a potential shambles as illustrated on January 7, when virtually every national newspaper had the phrase ‘NHS in Meltdown’ or similar words on their front pages, including the Tory-supporting papers.

Now, that is serious.

Richard Robinson Haslington