FIERCE winter weather could take emergency services at Burnley General Hospital beyond breaking point, a health chief warned today.

A special action plan and £265,000 extra Government cash has left the health trust better placed than ever to meet the challenge of an expected influx of patients in the months ahead.

But managers today said extreme conditions could still lead to a winter of discontent at the hospital -- leading to emergency admissions spilling over into beds reserved for surgical patients and blowing waiting list initiatives off course.

Trust finance director David Meakin said the trust had geared up for the winter challenge, but added: "If we have a really harsh winter the money we received will not be enough."

He said, the risk was that without additional cash there would be a real impact on waiting lists cuts demanded by the Government.

Mr Meakin said whatever the extra pressure all emergencies would be fully met and it would be routine, planned work which would have to take a back seat. A think-tank of senior managers set up an action plan to deal with the expected winter pressures, which includes opening 10 extra emergency admission beds and extending the opening of an 18-bed ward from five to seven days.

Surgical services will receive two additional high dependency beds and and there will be extra nursing care in various other areas.

Cash will also go into pathology and radiology services to speed up testing, leading to faster patient care.

But Mr Meakin said the trust had not received all the money it had asked for to cope with winter pressures and reserved the right to reopen cash talks with East Lancashire Health Authority in the event of a bleak winter.

Mr Meakin's statement came in the wake of a national survey showing that more than 90 per cent of 100 NHS trusts interviewed said more finance was needed to deal with problems caused by winter.

Some 76 per cent of trusts questioned thought it very likely patients in accident and emergency departments would be delayed before being allocated a bed and 67 per cent said waiting times for some patients would be very likely to rise.

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