I WAS deeply saddened that the Andover Advertiser chose to lead with the headline ‘Hospital Slammed by Health Watchdogs’ last week.

For those of us who looked at the CQC report in detail it is clear that this is not only misleading but hurtful and damaging to the staff at our local hospital. The areas that required improvement were all centred around the management.

The minor injuries unit was marked as ‘good’ under caring, safety and responsive.

It was let down by the management.

The management of our local hospital has, for a long time, come firstly from Winchester and then from Basingstoke.

Staff have been begging for support and more input for years but they have been out of sight to the higher management and therefore out of mind.

Despite having no support, no back-up, reduced staffing levels and greater workload the staff in the MIU have continued to see and treat patients 365 days a year repeatedly going above and beyond for the benefit of their patients to the detriment of their own work-life balance.

Many of the staff work over their contracted hours and go into work at short notice on their days off to cover shifts.

I for one would like to say an enormous THANK YOU to the staff for being there when I have needed them and hope the CQC report forces the powers that be in Basingstoke to step up and support this valued local service.

Name and address supplied