The sale of Westwood care home by the County Council creates further instability for residents who remain very opposed to this. The families are outraged at the price paid, which is hugely below the market value.

But another terrible consequence has now emerged.  This is the total loss of intermediate care beds in Bassetlaw. Elderly patients who were unable to go home, but not needing hospitalisation, were able spend a few weeks in a care home before going home. It was better for them, cheaper than staying in hospital and everyone benefitted. Westwood provided our intermediate care beds and they have now been lost.

Without question there are people who will catch infections in hospital that they would not do in private rooms in care beds and others who will not regain the strength to return home because they stay too long in hospital. The loss of Westwood is a disaster for the NHS, a disaster for elderly people and their families in our area and it is a searing indictment for the anonymous profiteers and privatisers who made this terrible decision. Shame on them.

Well done to the Bassetlaw Hospital SOS group and everyone else who campaigned for our hospital. Again the resolve of the people of Bassetlaw and the Bassetlaw hospital staff have made a huge difference. It is the case that a U-turn on maternity services guarantees their foreseeable future and the acute services review which threatened A&E appears to have disappeared into the long grass. We need to ensure it remains there. Now we need to see Children’s Services guaranteed. Having met Ron Calvert the new Chief Executive, I am very  re-assured. Unlike his predecessor he is capable of straight talking and he comes from a Trust that I gave as an example of best practice in the past.

There will be changes to our hospital, but he and I seem to agree on what a hospital is and what its core services are. For the first time in two years we have someone with whom the people of Bassetlaw can do business.

And to those who cast doubt on this brilliant community campaign, all I can say is go live in Newark. There the sceptics dominated at the very start and told everyone not to worry. Two years ago Bassetlaw had a hospital and Newark had a hospital and now Newark Hospital has disappeared. Now let’s try to overturn the police and fire service cuts.