The Department of Health said the letter sent to Mr Hunt was part of a series of assurances they had requested from the trust.

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Mr Wells, who is chairman of the Stormont Health Committee, said the trust's director of hospital services, Seamus McGoran, had received a letter from "a significant number of GPs in the area" who were "extremely unhappy with this proposal".

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In a letter addressed to parents, carers and colleagues, Terry Coffey, chairman of the Priory Federation of Academies Trust, said "mistakes and errors of judgement" were made by "two senior individuals" who have now left the trust's employment.

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Following the recording of his interview with the Today programme, Mr Walker received a letter from solicitors representing the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust.

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