AN urgent review is needed to discover why so many patients are dying at St Albans and Hemel Hempstead hospitals.

The shocking figures need an explanation.

Patients and their families deserve to know why they have a one in six chance of dying at St Albans and Hemel Hempstead hospitals after a hip operation, when patients at neighbouring Watford and Mount Vernon hospitals have a much greater chance of survival.

Patients admitted for emergency surgery fair little better with almost six per cent dying compared with 3.9 per cent in the rest of the country.

The trust says it will use the information constructively to help review its performance.

But surely these figures should have been questioned long before the performance indicators were released.

After all, they date back to last year and hundreds more operations have been performed since then.

The trust needs to do more if it is to stop patients dying unnecessarily.

Police forces need parity to avoid upsurge in crime

WHILE the seven per cent rise in crime may not be as bad as it sounds, the lack of police officers joining Hertfordshire gives great cause for concern.

Unless Hertfordshire officers receive a pay rise in line with the Metropolitan Police then new recruits will choose to join the neighbouring London force, while commuting from their Hertfordshire homes.

Although large, the rise in crime still leaves Hertfordshire close to the bottom of the table in the nationwide league.

But how long will the county remain as 'one of the safest places to live' if the number of officers continues to fall?

The only way to attract more officers is for the Government to sanction a pay rise that gives our officers parity with those in the Met.