IT’S not often I find myself agreeing with MP Helen Jones but last week some of what she said in her column made a lot of sense.

She said that when she gets official letters full of technical jargon she believes that someone, somewhere, is up to no good.

That certainly sounds about right.

She is rightly concerned about what is happening at our hospital – in particular to the maternity services.

Since running the story about the trust’s review of maternity services in Warrington, the Guardian has had plenty of feedback.

One heartbreaking letter was about a mum whose baby was not monitored, who was sent home from the hospital even though she was having two-minute contractions.

She only got as far as the car park before having to be helped back. Her baby was delivered stillborn.

She has been told that there have been a high number of stillbirths at the hospital since January – I’ve no idea if that is correct but I hope it isn’t the case.

But now the hospital has decided that all women in labour need to be continually monitored. An overreaction one might think? It certainly should help safety but I imagine it’s not what most women want as it will limit the freedom to move around which is more natural.

One size doesn’t fit all and if a woman’s labour is progressing well without problems, why should they be restricted?

You do wonder if these measures are just the start of cutbacks to our hospital? Do we have the correct level of midwives and nurses?

As Helen said, we’ve already lost our vascular services to Chester – could maternity be next?

Last week we got a glimpse of a day in the life of a GP after reporter Hannah Bargery spent time at a surgery on Manchester Road.

It revealed, unsurprisingly, that the number of patients is going up but the number of GPs has stayed the same.

A typical day for a GP at this surgery sounds stressful – with the doctor himself, who often doesn’t have time for a break or a bite to eat, saying some days he is ‘physically and mentally exhausted making thousands of decisions’.

With that kind of stress there is a greater likelihood of making mistakes – we’re all human and everyone makes a mistake occasionally. Only the rest of us aren’t dealing with people’s lives like GPs are. A wrong diagnosis could be fatal.

The problem is going to get worse before it gets better with restrictions lifted on immigration to Britain, there will be more demand for NHS services.

So the answer would appear to be simple – we not only need more GPs but more doctors’ surgeries to be built.

Perhaps our future would be healthier if the NHS paid its doctors less but employed more of them.