THE proposals to close Dorchester’s SCBU and Kingfisher Ward state that this will enable the health service to provide the most ‘effective’ service for our sick children. But what they really mean is the most ‘cost effective’ care, and the two are very different.

How can it be effective to separate sick children from their parents while putting families under the immense pressure of having one parent absent all day, spending time and money travelling and losing more money taking this time off work? What if there is only one parent?

Sick children recover much quicker if they feel secure and have their parents at hand. And these plans will plunge some families into real financial difficulties, adding stress and the potential threat of mental ill health.

The real cause for this review of services is the Government’s obsession with austerity. There is not enough funding to provide effective care with the necessary spending on staffing and equipment.

But it is estimated that £125 billion is lost each year due to tax avoidance. During the election the Conservatives promised to ensure £5 billion of this was collected, Labour promised £7 billion and the Lib Dems £10 billion. Why was this not done before?

Given how the figures vary, isn’t it fair to assume this is about political will and really there is no particular limit on what could be collected other than how little the government thinks voters will accept? And why can’t the government aim for a quarter of the sum lost each year? £30 billion would go a very long way towards saving Kingfisher, the SCBU and other wards like it right across the country.

Millions of people do not accept the government’s mantra of making cuts while failing to plug tax loopholes and refusing to raise another £20 billion by joining other European countries in introducing a Financial Transaction tax on the banks.

We need cots, not cuts, which is why I was in Dorchester and why I am joining thousands of others on an anti-austerity march in London this weekend.

Jane Burnet

Address supplied