Later this month the government plans to pass a law that will allow it to close our local hospitals, whether we like it or not.

If one hospital in our region gets into trouble, other popular and well-run hospitals could have services axed or even be shut down to balance the books.

This is a case of the government trying to shut the stable door after one of their horses has bolted.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt tried to close the thriving and solvent Lewisham Hospital in London when a totally separate adjacent hospital was suffering financial problems due to government cuts and disastrous PFI debts. He persisted despite fierce opposition from local people. But a court ruling told him he had exceeded his powers.

So now the government wants to change the law.

The coalition rushed through an amendment to the Care Bill (Clause 118/119) to give sweeping powers for Whitehall bureaucrats to close any English hospitals without full and proper local consultation.

If this ‘hospital closure clause’ is passed into law, no hospital will be safe from financially driven closures.

Doctors, including the British Medical Association, have criticised the government’s move for taking decisions out of the hands of local staff and patients who know what is really going on in their area.

Whatever happened to ‘no decision about me without me’?

The Care Bill is due to be considered in Parliament later this month.

Let’s hope our local MPs, Oliver Letwin and Richard Drax, will show their respect for local people by voting to remove the hospital closure clause when they get the chance.

Perhaps we should ask them what they plan to do.

Sally Cooke Stinsford