Figures produced by Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, undermine the claim that Burnley General Hospital is simply too small to have its Accident and Emergency Department re-instated. 

The last year (2003) when separate figures were published for A&E at Burnley General, there were 61,997 attendances. 

Figures published in 2008 for all Hospital Trusts in England showed around 45 Accident and Emergency Departments had fewer patients admitted than Burnley General Hospital did in 2003 when the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust was formed.  

The man who masterminded the controversial changes and who reviewed progress on their implementation earlier this year, Professor Sir George Alberti, reported to the National Clinical Advisory Team that “the wish amongst some stakeholders for a reinstatement of emergency care services at Burnley is not feasible on a number of grounds.” 

Professor Alberti, the National Clinical Director for Emergency Access, continued: “In particular, the volume of patients would not justify the employment of the specialist clinicians required to sustain an emergency service and such a service would be unsafe and detrimental to meeting the needs of patients.” 

Speaking from his Nelson office earlier today, the Pendle MP commented: “Figures from the Department of Health for 2008 show that 145,055 people attended our single A&E in East Lancashire.” 

“By contrast, 131,689 people went to A&E in the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust where there are two A&Es, one in Halifax and another in Huddersfield. This is the home territory of Diane Whittingham, the Acting Chief Executive brought in to run our own Trust here in East Lancashire while Marie Burnham is away.” 

“In the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust there were  115,057 attendances at the two A&Es – in Preston and in Chorley.” 

“There are many Hospital trusts around the country where A&E attendances don’t even begin to compare with the volumes handled by Burnley when it had its own blue light emergency department, handling 61,997 attendances. So is patient safety being compromised in Yeovil ? (42,119) Or in Scarborough? (48,841) Or in Harrogate? (41,040). Or in Airedale? (50,872)” 

The MP continued: “In the last year when Burnley had its own A&E department (2007) I estimate there were around 68,700 attendances." (see note below)  

"These figures speak louder than words. There is no reason why Burnley should be singled out for special treatment. It should get its own A&E back.”  

Note to Editors: Separate A&E attendance figures for Blackburn and Burnley are only available pre April 2003. East Lancashire Hospitals NHS trust was formed in April 2003 and since then A&E attendance figures have only been reported for the trust as a whole. 

The table below shows total A&E attendance figures for Blackburn and Burnley separately from 2000/01 to 2002/03.

A&E Attendances in East Lancashire 2000/01 to 2002/03

Year                             Blackburn           Burnley            %Burnley

2000/01                        66,062                61,082                48%

2001/02                        68,924                63,096                48%

2002/03                        70,920                61,997                47%

Source: Department of Health

If we assume that an average of around 48% of East Lancashire's A&E attendances were also seen in Burnley in 2006/07 - the last full year of A&E services operating there - the total attendance figure would be around 68,700 (48% of 143,159). 

There are around 45 A&E departments with attendances below 69,000.