MORE than 2,300 of you have spoken. That is how many readers put their names to our petition calling on health bosses to backtrack on their notorious "judge and jury" NHS panel.

We launched our Let Your Doctor Decide campaign after local primary care trust bosses announced drastic costcutting measures late last year.

Those measures included suspending a wide range of medical procedures such as back pain injections, bunion surgery, and removal of non-malignant skin lesions. GPs who felt their patients needed these treatments were forced to apply to a panel of health bureaucrats to get the referral approved.

We think that is wrong - and that it amounts to gambling with the quality of patients' lives. GPs across the region agreed with us - as did thousands of you, our readers.

We have now handed in the petition so many of you signed.

But we will not stop battling against these unjust measures until health bosses do the honourable thing and scrap this iniquitous panel.