I was appalled to read that Sir David Nicholson had been appointed to be chairman of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust especially following the results of the Francis Inquiry into the Staffordshire disaster.

There may well be some attributes that Sir David has that could assist Worcestershire in its own predicament but this seems, yet again, a case of NHS failed management being foisted upon other Trusts by self serving Quango's after a cooling off period elsewhere.

I am sure that Mrs Julie Bailey and her staunch supporters from Staffordshire would share my opinion that this is a poorly thought out appointment and I can well see the reason why Councillor Paul Tuthill will not be attending meetings. It is high time that the culture of secrecy and denial of wrongdoing was eliminated from our Health Service.

Only time will tell whether this appointment will prove to be beneficial to the patients which have been, in many cases, badly let down by this "Trust". This is not withstanding the many dedicated front line staff who perform their work under extreme pressure who deserve a better standard from higher management in their support than is currently being shown.

Ian Williams

Bromsgrove