Is it just me who is mystified how the Government's Fit for the Future proposals are going to work?

I thought Labour's whole argument for downgrading hospitals was they were no longer needed because care in the community was the way forward. Yet I read in your article that district nurses are being made redundant to cut costs for the primary care trust (The Argus, March 13). If there are no district nurses, can I ask who is going to provide this care in the community?

Is this not another example of how constant meddling is putting the NHS in dire straits? Is it not time this Government put its hand up and admitted that Fit for the Future is a cost-cutting exercise just as many of us have believed all along?

  • Simon Kirby, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Brighton Kemptown

    Steve Fuller is right to say that helping people to remain in their own homes should be a priority for the NHS and district nurses play a vital role in that (Letters, March 17).

However, the fact remains that South Downs Health NHS Trust has to make the savings required of all trusts while continuing to provide a high quality service.

This is a constant challenge which is why we are looking at every aspect of what we do. We will see where skills can be developed in new ways and how we can be more imaginative about maximising the time staff spend with patients. However, saying we will not live within our means is not an option open to us.

  • Quintin Barry chairman, South Downs Health NHS Trust