The government’s decision to axe the Audit Commission because of its ‘shocking’ excesses and for squandering taxpayers’ money is to be heartily welcomed.

The Commission’s report criticising the previous and current Board of Dorset County Hospital was sloppy, mis-leading and factually incorrect.

The report, for political reasons, paid scant reference to the two most important factors which have contributed to the hospital’s enduring financial problems.

The first is the chronic underfunding of smaller provincial district general hospitals under the previous government’s funding formulae.

NHS funds were deliberately channelled to hospitals in the urban Labour heartlands.

Consequently DCH has been short-changed to the tune of about £4m per year for decades.

The second was the dysfunctional state of the local health system where the relationship between DCH and the then Primary Care Trust was ‘poor’ to say the least.

Without PCT support and an effective partnership, DCH was not able to thrive.

Unless these fundamental impediments are overcome, DCH will struggle to balance its books.

Despite these problems and thanks to its fantastic staff, with whom it was a privilege to work, DCH remains one of the safest and most respected hospitals in the country.

The Commission’s report is a classic study of it’s ‘box ticking’ mentality to regulation which the current government recognises as unaffordable, unnecessary and of little value.

In a stroke, the government has discredited the report.

The demise of the Audit Commission cannot come too soon.

Robin SeQueira Former chairman, DCH Address supplied