Hospital move 'will lead to more deaths'
7:02pm Thursday 9th August 2007 in News By Nick Evans
CONCERNS: MP Kitty Ussher is worried about transporting patients during the winter months
BURNLEY MP Kitty Ussher has voiced fears that a controversial hos-pital shake-up will prompt more deaths among her constituents.
The MP has questioned the wisdom of transporting eld-erly patients between Burnley General and the Royal Blackburn hospitals, esp-ecially during the winter months, as part of changes agreed under the Meeting Patients' Needs programme.
She has written to East Lancashire Hospitals boss Jo Cubbon to also outline her worries about moving paediatric care facilities from Burnley to Blackburn.
Mrs Ussher has also met the new chairman of the hospital trust, Alan Green, to express her concerns.
In the letter to Mrs Cubbon she says: "Amongst proposals that were of concern to me was the move of paediatrics to Blackburn, in particular the lack of facilities for overnight assessment and the fact that no consultants will reside in Burnley.
"I also found worrying the suggestion that haematology and pathology would be moved to Blackburn, and that no fracture clinic would remain in Burnley.
"It has also come to my attention that patients from medical wards will be transported during Nov-ember and February, and may have to be moved twice.
"I am inclined to believe that transporting elderly patients during the winter months will lead to more patient deaths, and so should be avoided at all costs."
The MP had also questioned future mortuary provisions in Burnley but hospital bosses have confirmed that these will remain at the hospital - and post mortem examinations will continue to take place there. The first phase of the changes to hospital services will come into effect by November 1.
Burnley General Hospital will be stripped of its ability to handle 999 emergencies, with all critical casualty cases transferring to the Royal Blackburn Hospital.
A spokesman for the trust said: "We welcome Kitty Ussher's continued involve-ment and share her commitment to Burnley continuing to receive the best possible health services.
"We understand that change, even when it is for the better, can be unsettling, but 21st century patients deserve 21st century healthcare - that's what they told us after last year's public consultation.
"That means we need to make changes, but we fully recognise that the services we provide must continue to put patient safety as their top priority."
