Blog: Two things continue to rattle me, having darkened my thoughts over the weekend, writes Dave Morris.

They concern the NHS and our attitudes to race.

I revealed that health bosses in Shropshire and Telford are looking to join forces and offload their community services to a new countywide NHS trust.

They are under pressure from Westminster to make changes.

But why oh why can’t our politicians leave the NHS alone for a while?

And a surprising statement from a friend curdled the cappucino coffee I was drinking at the time and has made me question whether we have made any real progress in tackling racism.

The new organisation that the county’s two primary care trusts are thinking of forming would be responsible for running the community hospitals at Whitchurch, Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Bishop’s Castle.

It would also cover a range of community services such as district nursing, health visiting and physiotherapy, to name just a few.

Goodness only know what the cost of such reorganisation will be, and of course it is going to be unsettling for staff.

Funnily enough Shropshire used to have a community services trust which was axed when primary care trusts were set up back in 2002.

And here’s another laugh – the primary care trusts will be axed in three years time under perhaps the biggest ever shake-up of the NHS.

Family doctors are going to get billions of pounds to run services.

But hold on a second. In my experience GPs are very busy people. Their waiting rooms are usually packed out.

How on earth are they going to find the time to organise and manage services?

Trusts – or consortia, if you like – will have to be established.

Round and round we go.

Meanwhile, my friend, who is intelligent and holds down a very responsible job, caught me completely off balance with their racist remark. They said that there was only one thing they hated more than benefit cheats, and that was black benefit cheats.

There was a long awkward silence at the cafe table and I confess I didn’t know quite how to respond. I thought for a few seconds it was a joke, but it wasn’t.

We have regulations in place to ensure equality but I can’t help feeling that they only mask deep rooted prejudice in our society.

What was particularly disturbing was that the remark came from someone who I respect (perhaps that should be the past tense, respected). Maybe I could have coped far better if the remark had come from the stereotypical loud mouthed, ignorant skinhead.

I am left with this nagging feeling that things are getting worse regarding colour, not better.

How often do people, from all walks of life, start a sentence with the words “I am not racist but….”

• Dave Morris is the Shropshire Star’s local government and education correspondent