Burnley BC has written to health secretary, Alan Johnson, asking him to review hospital services at Burnley General Hospital. Members supported a vote of no confidence put forward by Cllr Darren Reynolds, which noted the ‘alarming' number of complaints from patients and staff at the hospital. The motion also called on the minister to carry out an urgent review into hospital services, and the possibility of reopening the accident and emergency department. ‘This hospital doesn't just serve the people of Burnley,' said council leader, Cllr Gordon Birtwistle. ‘It serves the people of Rossendale and Pendle, and further afield – around 250,000 residents. ‘We welcome the recent announcement by the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust to invest £27m in the hospital and introduce new centre of excellence services, but we can only be satisfied if this is the start of a process to re-establish a full range of services in Burnley.' ‘We want our facilities back. One-quarter of a million people deserve it,' he added. ‘We need millions of pounds to be spent on Burnley hospital. We must continue to push to get our hospital back for the people of Burnley.' And Cllr Reynolds added: ‘The hospital we have today is not the same as the one we had a few years ago.' A spokesman for the Department of Health said Mr Johnson would respond in due course. Dr Geraint Jones, consultant physician and medical director at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, said ‘wholesale changes' were being made in the region. ‘We know the work involved in transforming our services has just started, and that there is a lot more to do to complete our plan, which has been clearly set out and based no clinical evidence,' said Dr Jones.
