As the Royal Blackburn Hospital was being prepared to treat all seriously ill and injured patients, more than 50 people gathered in Burnley to hold a final, dignified protest at the loss of services.

Hospital campaigner and Burnley Council leader Coun. Gordon Birtwistle, who organised the vigil, said: "This is a black day for Burnley, a very sad day."

The candlelit vigil on Wednesday marked the end of a tough battle to keep all casualty services at Burnley General Hospital. Thousands of people made their feelings known in the 18-month Save Our Hospital protest as hospital bosses ploughed ahead with plans to downgrade the borough's accident and emergency department and send all emergency cases and sick children to Blackburn.

Under the radical reforms, there is a new emergency department at Blackburn as well as urgent care centres, which will deal with minor complaints and illnesses, at both Burnley and Blackburn. Burnley will also deal with planned surgery and will house a specialist breast cancer unit and a women's and neonatal centre.

This week's changes are the first of two phases. Next year, £27m. will be spent on Burnley General Hospital on the new women's and babies' unit.

A spokesman for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said: "Although some important changes are taking place, the vast majority of day case, out-patient appointments and diagnostic tests will continue to take place on both the Burnley and Blackburn hospital sites."

The three key things to remember are:
GP services continue unchanged and can treat most minor illnesses. Anything you can't wait to see a GP for, contact the GP out-of-hours service first;

New urgent care centres at the Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital are for urgent but less serious injuries or illnesses. Experienced and highly-trained doctors and nurses working in the urgent care centre can treat a wide range of illnesses and injuries

The new emergency department at the Royal Blackburn Hospital is for emergency cases involving severe injury/illness. Call 999 for an ambulance or go to the emergency department.