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Tory health chief backs call for A&E to return to Burnley (From Burnley and Pendle Citizen)
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Tory health chief backs call for A&E to return to Burnley
11:12am Friday 25th September 2009
SHADOW Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has insisted there is “no reason” why an accident and emergency unit cannot be re-established at Burnley General Hospital.
The MP for South Cambridgeshire made the claim during an exclusive interview with the Lancashire Telegraph after a fact-finding mission to the Casterton Avenue hospital yesterday.
Mr Lansley had been invited to visit the hospital by Richard Ali and Andrew Stephenson, the Conservative parliamentary candidates for Burnley and Pendle respectively, amid continuing unease about A&E services in East Lancashire.
He spoke with deputy chief executive Lynn Wissett and staff in Burnley General’s urgent care centre.
Mr Lansley said: “I am very clear after the conversations I have had that, in my view, there is no reason why there should not be an accident and emergency service at Burnley General Hospital.”
The shadow cabinet member said he agreed with the view, expressed earlier this year by the Royal College of Surgeons, that they did not recognise the term ‘urgent care centre’, within the NHS.
He said people remained “confused” about the distinctions between an A&E unit and urgent care centre.
While specialised emergencies, such as paediatric and head trauma cases, should continue to be diverted to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, he said, more general emergencies could be diverted to Burnley.
Mr Lansley said he would seek talks with the North West Ambulance to ensure protocols, transferring cases to Burnley wherever possible, were adhered to.
He added: “Recently I visited the Great Western Hospital, in Weston-super-Mare, which had an accident and emergency department, and the population there is very similar to that of Burnley and Pendle.”
Later Lynn Wissett said: “The model of care is designed so that on average, 87 per cent of accidents and emergencies can still go to Burnley General Hospital and our advice has always been – ‘do as you did before’.
“If you can get to hospital by yourself then you can be treated at Burnley’s urgent care centre, if that is your nearest hospital.
“If an ambulance is required, dial 999 and the paramedics will decide the most appropriate hospital to take you to.”
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Your Say YourCitizen
Lifeinthemix, Accrington says...
1:15pm Fri 25 Sep 09
Mmmm. Truth is niether MP's nor Councillors actually decide anything when it comes to our politic.
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I recently viewed the plans passed by Hyndburn Council for the Accrington Academy extension....The electrical drawings were missing based said the planning dept on anti-terror and child protection criteria.!
I of course am well aware of the real reason this is so, one of which is the palcement of cctv in the childrens toilets and the another relating to strange technology with the new lighting systems, which makes lights do other things, there are more reasons which I will not bore you with.
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What we found during this research was the fact that all MP's and councillors, all big whigs in any category within our political and private sector systems, take no decision without first consulting Capita Symonds.
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Eh says Doris....Mmm says I, Capita Symonds, an absolute monster of a Crown control network, arranging the funding and then dictating to every facet of our democratic system.
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The nexus of this operation seems to be coming from what we have termed the Adam Street -Charring Cross Gang in London, named so in that so many sinister controlling networks, pseudo charitable trusts and many companies -charities involved in the changing of education, not for the better I might add.
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The entity which is looking like overall control over this Adam Street gang is the Royal Society of the Arts, RSA, Preseident Prince Philip, Patron, the Queen.
Here is the information as currently published :
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http://www.lifeinthe
mixtalk.com/?p=3103
Ian the king, Lancs says...
2:32pm Fri 25 Sep 09
tonygreaves, Colne says...
2:57pm Fri 25 Sep 09
Weasel words again from Wissett pretending that nothing has changed. Does she ever visit BGH where half the hospital is like a ghost town?
Tony Greaves
Tommy35, Burnley says...
3:20pm Fri 25 Sep 09
burner, blackburn says...
4:12pm Fri 25 Sep 09
Kevin, Colne, Colne says...
8:13am Sat 26 Sep 09
The problem is not just about the size of population served, it's about location. Unless things have changed since I was a lad the hospitals in Huddersfield and Halifax are located off-centre: at Lindley and Skircoat Green respectively.
In Blackburn the Royal Blackburn Hospital is off-centre for Blackburn only. In A&E terms those of us in the north-east of the County are now effectively living on Pluto.
The decision to close A&E in Burnley will go down in history as one of the most disastrous public-policy and political errors to befall our little plot that we all know and love so well.
The trouble is I don't trust the Conservatives one bit. We've just received a newsletter from them 'Pendle Matters' which bore the headline: 'Council Tax Freeze And New Spending Plan'. My understanding is that the new Conservative administration at County Hall has borrowed a big sum of money so perhaps the headline should have been: 'Council Tax Freeze And New Borrowing And Spending Plans'.
In short the Conservative Party locally is trying to deceive us with a leased 4x4 on the driveway and nothing in the fridge.
If the Conservative Party can't level with us in opposition then what will they be like in government?
HEALTH TALKS: Andrew Lansley MP with Andrew Stephenson (prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate for Pendle) during his visit to Burnley
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enty 46, Clayton-Le-Moors says...
11:33am Fri 25 Sep 09