IT couldn't be a less auspicious start: in only its second meeting, the newly-merged Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust is already talking about making cuts.

Of course it's not just our local hospitals that are under severe pressure - it's the entire health service.

But the latest news will remind us that the merger of Chase Farm and Barnet General will not provide a miracle pick-me-up for our sickly hospital services.

Any amount of tinkering with management structures can be done, but at the end of the day the NHS needs major sustained investment if it is to rise from its sick-bed.

And for that, the Government must take responsibility.

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