Care centredoctor anger

HEALTH chiefs have been accused of not keeping their promises to people in Burnley after it emerged the town’s Urgent Care Centre is to run without a specialist A&E doctor during the night.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Oct 2010, 11:50 BST

From this week nurses and a GP will be in charge of the department between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. with health bosses saying staffing “must be tailored to the needs of patients presenting over the 24-hour period.”

But health campaigners say East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is not keeping its pledge to implement recommendations made by top emergency care experts Prof. Matthew Cooke and Dr Irving Cobden who carried out a review of the urgent care centre.

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Previously the centre was manned by a team of nurses and experienced registrar.

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle said: “It is absolutely outrageous I will be speaking to the Health Minister about this and asking him to investigate. The Trust agreed to implement the recommendations of the review. The review said we should have a full-time A&E consultant in A&E at Burnley. The Trust is completely going against what the review said.

“The unions are saying this is because of the Coalition Government but this couldn’t be further from the truth. This Government is actually spending more on the NHS by putting back room money into front-line services.”

Dr Mike Ions, chairman of the GP’s Professional Executive Committee at NHS East Lancashire Primary Care Trust and Dr Charles Thomson, clinical director for emergency care at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “In line with Meeting Patients’ Needs, Burnley urgent care centre will remain a consultant-led service, with medical cover throughout the day, provided by a range of clinicians including GPs and supported by nurses.

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“The level and mix of staffing must be tailored to the needs of patients presenting over the 24-hour period. Between the hours of 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., a fully-qualified GP will be present at the Burnley urgent care centre, supported by nurses.

“All changes are in line with the recommendations made by Prof. Matthew Cooke and Dr Irving Cobden in the independent review of Burnley urgent care centre.”

The review found the urgent care centre was under-used and set out 23 recommendations to improve the service.

Related topics:BurnleyHealth Minister