THE Ministry of Defence has now ceased to fund services at the Royal Hospital Haslar.

This means Britain will be the only country in the civilised world to no longer have a dedicated military hospital facility on its own territory. However, essential facilities will continue at Haslar using civilian and Defence Medical Services staff under the NHS until 2009.

The decision to close Haslar was announced in December 1998 but increased demand has meant it has repeatedly been put off.

The real closure date is again being stalled by the unmet demand for civilian and military hospital care.

As the hospital will continue to function under this partnership, there is absolutely no reason why the rehabilitating of our sick and wounded troops from Afghanistan and Iraq could not be carried out there.

The Royal Hospital Haslar could be turned into an emergency rehabillitation centre immediately. Despite its military closure, this busy hospital will continue to be a military secure establishment and will continue to do more surgery than it its 254 year history and it still has plenty of spare capacity.

The facilities are state of the art and the Solent location is excellent.

When the MoD tried to close this hospital by 2001 they had not foreseen the demand that would be caused by the Afghanistan and Iraq situation. There are hundreds of MoD medical service personnel working at Haslar and in Portsmouth hospitals so military resources would not be a problem.

The Government surely must see that the most cost-effective way to meet the demand for care of our troops, especially in the short term, is to use Haslar.

When Haslar was in full use for the Falklands and the first Iraq war our wounded servicemen loved the facility.

To use Haslar now, at least for rehabilitation, would be a nationally popular decision and would show the Government is listening and dealing with the situation.

COUNCILLOR PETER EDGAR, Gosport Borough Council, spokesman for Save Haslar Task Force.