LIKE many others, I have read of the financial crisis within our local health services with mounting concern. Your headline described the situation as "critical" and referred to a £23 million debt (January 5).

Particularly worrying are plans to cut beds at our local hospital here in Selby. We have been promised a new hospital for years and I will be contacting our local MP to ask that he ensures that any plans are not shelved by the bureaucrats as part of cost-saving measures. I would urge others to do the same.

Sheila Brown,

Westbourne Road, Selby.

Updated: 09:41 Wednesday, January 25, 2006