ATTEMPTS to block a controversial private health scheme which hospital bosses warn could damage NHS services are "ground-less", Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has said.

She said a union would not be able to stop a plan she put in place to have a private healthcare firm treat East Lancashire patients using taxpayers' money.

Hospital bosses in East Lancashire have warned the scheme could see their services collapse as patients, and the money for their procedure, would go elsewhere.

But the Government has insisted the Capture, Assess, Treat and Support Services (CATs) deal for simple procedures and tests would drive down waiting lists and allow hospitals to focus on more complex work.

It has pledged to bring all NHS waits down to 18 weeks by 2008 - and said the scheme was vital for this to happen.

Healthcare union Unison formally opposed the plans - worth £2.5 billion nationally - and said the Government had not consulted the public and local bosses.

A spokesman said it was not ruling out seeking a judicial review to stop the plan.

But Mrs Hewitt said she had the authority to give preferred bidder status to South African firm Netcare and had "no duty of consultation" to the public and local hospital chiefs.

The solicitors' letter, on behalf of her and regional authority NHS North West, said: "Your clients' complaints that there has been a failure of statutory consultation in respect of the proposals to introduce CATs services. . . and in particular regarding the decision to award preferred bidder status to Netcare UK Limited are groundless and the forms of relief which your clients seek are unwarranted."

But she said bosses at East Lancashire's Primary Care Trusts - which decide what health services should be available - would still have the choice not to use the services.

It said: "There will be no binding legal obligation upon the PCTs to use such services.

"When the contract is in place, it will be open for the PCTs. . . to make decisions how services should be provided in their areas".

But it said the PCTs should "take into account the availability to them of services offered by Netcare".

Unison spokesman Tim Ellis said it was highly unlikely the PCT would not use the firm once the deal was in place.

He said: "The NHS has massively improved its waiting times in the last two years.

"The proposal to remove funding from NHS trusts endangers this achievement."

This month The Lancashire Telegraph revealed bosses were worried the move could take work away from cash-strapped East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

An internal trust report said: "We believe that the proposals as they stand may well present risks to the sustainability of some hospital services."