The NHS gets its fair share of bad publicity. But it is not all doom and gloom, writes Hendon MP ANDREW DISMORE

If you pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV, you'd think the NHS was a coconut shy.

Individual patient's cases are sensationalised, with little effort to find the full facts. This fuels the agenda of those who argue the NHS is past its sell-by date, is a Stalinist institution and should be replaced by private insurance.

I reject these arguments. There are many difficulties to sort out after decades of underfunding, but big money is coming in. The new hospital at Barnet is almost finished. Edgware's new hospital is on the way. I receive more comments praising the NHS than criticising it.

Only this Monday, I visited Colindale Hospital, where I saw for myself the excellent work being done by the consultants and their teams in providing care for people with Alzheimer's disease. But good news is no news and rarely reported.

One of the Government's earliest reforms was to insist on consultation with the public and service users, and for NHS trusts and authorities to meet in public so you can see how and why decisions are taken.

An example of this is the NHS management's proposals for Edgware Hospital's Urgent Treatment Centre. On Wednesday night, these NHS chiefs were publicly subjected to detailed cross-examination by a joint scrutiny panel of Barnet Council and the community health council. Such a process would have been unthinkable in the old days.

Early last month, dozens of people, including myself, attended the NHS-organised public meeting. Well-informed and incisive questions challenged the NHS as to whether the expected savings would materialise; what the money would be spent on; whether the plan was really necessary and what alternatives were available.

True consultation isn't just about opinion polls or a show of hands. It's about an open process where schemes can be scrutinised in detail by the public and experts alike.

It also means that if questions can't be properly answered, or unforeseen problems are thrown up or the numbers don't add up after all, then the plans can be modified or dropped.

After all, we do have a "healthy" scepticism in Barnet which is why I've sent the health authority seven pages of detailed questions and arguments myself.

I've yet to be convinced closure of the centre at night is justified and if I'm not convinced, I doubt you will be. But there is another month of public debate to go, so let's see whether our questions and criticisms can be answered or not.

And if not, how the NHS changes or withdraws its proposals which is what the community would expect.