AS a patient at the GP surgery in Westhoughton where Dr Bhatiani works I object strongly to the comments made by MP David Crausby about Dr Bhatiani;s inability to meet the MP, because Dr Bhatiani said he was too busy to meet. (Bolton News March 4)

Dr Bhatiani and his wife, who was also a GP at the Westhoughton practice, have given tremendous service to the local community day in and day out for decades. In contrast to that our MPs get elected and we are fortunate (or unfortunate) if they are to be seen in their communities once or twice a year

Apart from being a dedicated GP, Dr Bhatiani has taken on the role of lead of the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group, which, given the melt down which was being experienced at Royal Bolton Hospital a short while ago cannot be an easy task where the allocation of resources/money is concerned. As politicians are fond of telling us, sometimes hard choices have to be made.

There is an election looming and local people can be forgiven for thinking that if they can now see their local MPs out in force, addressing local issues, that there is a bit of showboating going on.

David Crausby's comment that ‘Dr Bhatiani ‘thinks’ that he is too busy to discuss the views of local people’ is offensive. David Crausby does not know what the GP thinks, however, of the two people involved (GP and MP) I would feel that a GP who sits down opposite maybe 15 to 20 patients a day and listens to their healthcare concerns is nearer to local health issues than a London based MP.

This has nothing to do with the MP’s politics, I like many others am completely undecided about which way to vote this time, no party giving any real confidence, and all parties making outlandish claims about what they will do if they are elected. I am sure that Dr Bhatiani is quite capable of defending himself but suspect that his position will not allow him to, but if the GP says he is too busy to go to a meeting on a particular time and day, then he is too busy, without the impression being put in the public domain by an MP that the GP is somehow letting down local people and patients. When the MP goes back to London (if he goes back) the GP will still be here

Ron Shambley

Clough Avenue

Westhoughton