Life-Saving Services Moved To Blackburn

[Burnley Web]

BREAKING NEWS - Life-Saving Services Moved To Blackburn

EMERGENCY services at Burnley General Hospital are being moved to Blackburn - but the fight will go on!

At a tense crunch meeting health bosses voted unanimously in favour of sending all critically ill people to Blackburn, effectively disabling Burnley's accident and emergency capability.

Although, the members of the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts also put in place a list of 10 recommendations, many of which have been set down in a bid to lessen the impact on the borough.

But protester Coun. Gordon Birtwistle, who is leader of Burnley Borough Council, has vowed to keep up the battle.

"This decision is utterly disgraceful and I am absolutely outraged. We want services improved in Burnley, not taken away. I will continue to fight this," he said.

And the borough's MP Mrs Kitty Ussher said: "While this decision could have been worse, people are still losing out and will remain seriously worried about the journey times to Blackburn. This is not the end for us and the fight will go on."

Meanwhile, Mrs Jo Cubbon, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive, said: "We welcome the decision of the Primary Care Trust and feel that this sets a clear way forward for health care in East Lancashire - not just for services within hospitals but for a wide range of new and existing services closer to where people live."

See Friday's Burnley Express for the full story and full reaction

http://www.burnleytoday.co.uk/ViewAr...icleID=1782255