I WRITE regarding MP David Chaytor's comments on the £100 million to be spent on the recruitment of midwives and maternity services (May 11).

This is wonderful news but one suspects it is another election ploy because it has been reported that maternity units could actually close in other areas. This problem hasn't just happened; nurses, midwives and medical staff have been crying out for help for years!

The system must be changed. There is a huge backlog of students desperately trying to take up nursing and midwifery, but cannot get into places to train. They are having to wait three or four years. A lot of them give up and do something else. It is such a tragedy. Students used to go into hospitals to train at 18, combining some schooling and some practical work. They didn't need all the higher exam qualifications demanded today. After three years of training and then passing final exams, they were qualified nurses.

We should not have to look abroad for recruits when we have enough potential here. The problem is that it is not being tapped into!

I also take issue with the £1,500 one-off payment to midwives returning to the NHS. It is wonderful for them, but what of the current long-serving midwives, the dedicated stalwarts who have carried on covering for colleagues who have left because they have had enough? What do they get? They should also have a one-off payment as a way of saying: "We appreciate all you have done, thank-you".

Come on Mr Chaytor, all medical staff do a wonderful job. Where would we be without them? God bless them all.

BEEN THERE, GOT

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