THE leader of the Conservative Party has congratulated our sister paper on our Dossier of Despair against hospital service changes.

David Cameron gave the Bucks Free Press his congratulations in a letter he sent to Wycombe MP Paul Goodman. In his letter, 39-year-old Mr Cameron said: "I congratulate the Bucks Free Press on this initiative."

Hundreds of residents and hospital staff signed our Dossier of Despair, listing concerns over the changes to health services at Wycombe Hospital.

Mr Cameron said: "As you know, my own Witney constituency in Oxfordshire is not very far from Buckinghamshire, and the anxieties voiced by your constituents about the current state of the NHS are very similar to those voiced by mine. In particular, they are concerned about the loss of local control and accountability. I remember that Andrew Lansley, our shadow Health Secretary, pledged before the last election to refer the changes at Wycombe Hospital to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel if necessary.

"We will continue to monitor closely what happens to the NHS in your area as the next election approaches."

Our hospital campaign followed the move last August of Wycombe Hospital's A&E trauma surgery department to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near Aylesbury.

And later on this year, Wycombe's in-patient wom-en's and children's services are expected to move to Stoke Mandeville.

The dossier was handed to staff at Number 10 Downing Street by a delegation in January. But the Department of Health wrote back to us saying that we needed to speak to Buckinghamshire's heath chiefs the people who made the decision to change our services in the first place.

Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Cambell has already been pictured giving us his support.

Labour Wycombe District Councillor Rafiq Raja said: "The NHS Trust has made the changes for clinical and budgetary reasons but it is not the right thing for the people of Wycombe. From here on it is up to the people and their elected representatives to hold the Bucks Hospitals NHS Trust accountable for the promised improvements in the quality and delivery of health services."

The Trust declined to comment on the letter from David Cameron but Jon Fisher, a spokesman, said: "The Trust believes that these changes will lead to improved services for our patients, as already evidenced in a recent analysis of the separation of trauma/emergency and planned surgery."