PCT DEBTS SLASHED IN HALF

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 20th May 2008

Whilst the news that the PCT debt will be slashed in half is welcome, the sad truth is that it comes very late in the day for some patients.

When the first cut-backs to local health services were announced nearly two years ago, I was joined by my local Lib Dem colleagues in calling for the debt to be written off so that local residents wouldn't suffer. Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, refused to write any of the debt off.

Since launching a campaign to stop cuts to local NHS services, I have been contacted by many residents who have told me how they've been affected. And it is the people denied treatment for so long who now deserve an apology for the delay in writing off the debt.

It seems that this cynical Brown government will only do the right thing when they are plummeting in the polls.