When Burnley A&E closed, Blackburn A&E was already under pressure. There was a public outcry but the wheels ground on and the inevitable happened. Now we are seeing the fruits of that ill-conceived idea.

The expressions ‘two into one won’t go’ and ‘a quart won’t go into a pint pot’ spring to mind. The chickens have really come home to roost. There are not enough beds or frontline staff.

The RBH was built under a Private Finance Initiative. If it was an ‘initiative’ it must be all right then. Wrong! RBH cost £113million to build but we are paying back about £800million. The NHS is topsy-turvy. The taxpayer foots the bill for what is now private practice in all but name.

M E Bysh, Darwen, (via email)