HEALTH services in Ludgershall and Tidworth are up to scratch and plans do exist to try to deal with health inequalities , says a practice manager in the area.

Paul Bessant, practice manager at Castle Practice in Ludgershall, said a report produced by Kennet District Council was wrong in saying that there were no firm proposals from the primary care trust.

And, contrary to the report, patients do not use Andover for out of hours health care.

"Kennet and North Wilts PCT inherited a large negative budget and differences in the provision of healthcare within its new boundary when it became operational on 1 April 2002," said Mr Bessant.

"These facts were recognised and a widespread and public consultation excercise was undertaken resulting in quite radical proposals being placed before and accepted by the PCT Board.

"The KNWPCT have detailed plans to provide equal core services across their patch but first they must 'disinvest' from over resourced/overfunded services in other geographical areas.

"While it is true to say that here in south east Kennet we have no access to intermediate care services, including nursing homes in the immediate vicinity, your readers and constituents can rest assured that the access, waiting times and variety of services provided by our hospitals in Andover, Winchester, Salisbury and Southampton is generally the envy of our colleagues to the west.

"For out of hours care our local out of hours GP cooperative based in Amesbury provides an enviable first class service to all of our patients, be they Wiltshire or Hampshire based.

"All of the GP practices in the Ludgershall/Tidworth area will continue to work with the excellent Kennet and North Wilts PCT to ensure the best possible health care provision for their registered patients."