I feel I must respond to Victoria Pite’s letter (‘Chase Farm is top notch’, July 29.

I am sure everyone appreciates all the staff at Chase Farm and the fact it is a clean hospital, because isn’t that what we have been campaigning for — to retain the staff and vital major services patients currently receive, but will be losing over the next few years?

When services are removed because of funding constraints, leaving people in pain, where they had previously gained some degree of relief from their inflictions, or when a mother-to-be in labour pain with complications at the last minute, is put in an ambulance for a ride to another hospital, putting both mother and baby’s lives at risk, it is doubtful the virtues of what has happened to the hospital then, will be appreciated or expressed in the same way.

In the future, your first port of call when feeling ill — to see your GP — may well involve having to travel much further than your current nearby surgery and then find you have to consult another GP or a nurse instead, especially in an emergency situation.

There will still be a huge amount of people attending hospitals because they need an X-ray, or certain kind of scans that cannot be delivered in a multi-GP practice/polyclinic/urgent care centre/ neighbourhood health centre/walk-in centre.

Need to see a consultant? You will undoubtedly need to travel to Barnet or North Middlesex hospitals for most conditions — and also, of course, for all the major services transferred there.

Council taxes are likely to rise dramatically to support social services where people are kicked out of hospital early to be treated in the community.

The elderly and children are to be assessed to keep them out of hospital.

Will we sing the praises on the changes then, I wonder?

Ivy Beard, Littlebrook Gardens, Cheshunt