Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, has renewed his call for the reinstatement of blue light A&E at Burnley General. 

The MP is supporting former Burnley MP, Peter Pike, and former health authority chair, Ian Woolley, who are pressing for an independent body such as the highly respected King’s Fund to be brought in to assess whether East Lancashire, with a population of 500,000, can deliver top quality health care with only one A&E at Blackburn. 

Speaking from his constituency office in Nelson earlier today, the MP said: “From the very outset, I called for the reorganisation proposals to be referred to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel – a group of clinicians from outside the area with no axe to grind. But the councillors on the then Overview and Scrutiny Committee, after hearing from Professor Sir George Alberti, waved the controversial plans through.” 

“The very same Professor Alberti has since commented on the reorganisation in a report earlier this year for the National Clinical Advisory Team. It makes depressing reading.” 

“The professor tells us what we already know – and a bit more.” 

“While still maintaining the original reorganisation model is valid, he says the programme management arrangements set up in 2006 “seem to have fallen somewhat into disuse”. This is an astonishing admission given the raging controversy about the changes.” 

“He says there was inadequate management of patient flow and capacity. He admits that in the original review he “had not anticipated a decrease in beds or staff” - which is precisely what happened.”  

“He also found delays in developing integrated community and primary care services.  He says “these seem not to have been developed at the pace required to provide the necessary additional ‘out-of-hospital’ capacity”. He goes on: “In retrospect, these developments should have preceded the hospital changes.” 

The MP added: “We have had a series of reviews, including the Alberti one, with none of them inspiring confidence. That is why I am calling on Ministers and the Hospital Trust to act now and bring in a respected outside organisation such as the King’s Fund.” 

The King’s Fund is an independent charitable organisation that works to improve health care in the UK by providing research and health policy analysis. 

Next Tuesday (29 September) the MP will be meeting the new Chair of the Hospital Trust, Hazel Harding, and the Acting Chief Executive, Diane Whittingham, who retains her current job as Chief Executive of the Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust.