Sir, – The expansion of County Durham's A and E departments announced two weeks ago is nothing but a cruel deception just prior to the general election and council elections.

Many local councillors also sit on the board of the quangos which shut A and E at Bishop Auckland and Hartlepool, which created most of the problem in the first place here on Teesside. James Cook University Hospital facing massive pressure in A and E as is North Tees.

I was in the walk-in centre at Darlington A and E myself four weeks ago. The patients for A and E in ambulances and on trolleys were forming queues out the door.

In an attempt to salvage the political careers of those who took these decisions in the first place they announce an expansion of A and E now. The expansion they propose will take months to plan and years to achieve.

Re-open the facilities we once had at Bishop Auckland and Hartlepool instead. Appoint a new paediatrician at Northallerton and re open a full serevice there. The problems will then be solved overnight.

NIGEL F BODDY

Fife Road, Darlington.