THE recent proposal to expand A&E departments at Darlington and Durham is unbelievable when, after five years of public funding cuts and the NHS finances in a critical situation, health chiefs propose to spend £20m funding the improvements through PFI, which is already a discredited means of funding schools, hospitals and fire control centres.

I am now more firmly convinced that the NHS is run for the convenience of consultations and not for that of patients and relatives, and certainly not for those residing in Teesdale or Weardale when there is a new, unused facility at Bishop Auckland.

The expenditure of £20m should be more than adequate to provide the necessary staff to fully utilise existing facilities rather than build new ones. Had the A&E at Bishop Auckland not been closed, perhaps demand at Darlington and Durham may not be so great.

P Holmes, Barnard Castle.