AM just about old enough to remember when a “public consultation” was just that, not a tick-box exercise in going through the motions before carrying on with what you’d already decided.

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, the body charged with our healthcare on Teesside, seem to be completely set in its determination to run down our two existing hospitals, in favour of a PFI financed vanity project at Wynyard.

We saw recently just how ill-judged that could be when a major pile-up on one of our busiest roads effectively shut off Wynyard for a large amount of the rush hour.

Whenever people are asked, they quite rightly opt for hospitals near their homes, and have watched in horror as vital facilities in North Tees and Hartlepool have been shut down.

Now the trust is holding a series of public meetings for people to “have their say”.

But here’s what the trust’s chief executive, Alan Foster says: “We wanted to take the opportunity to talk to the public about the new hospital and the benefits it will bring to the population we serve.”

Despite the fact that they don’t have the money or the go ahead from the Government, and despite the fact that they have already wasted huge amounts that would be better spent on maintaining the services we have, it’s “business as usual”.

Alastair Coe, Stockton.