MP fighting forchildren’s ward

His plea follows talks with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley this week.

They told him that if the county’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the county council reviews the decision by the Strategic Health Authority to move the Deerplay children’s ward to Blackburn it can refer the decision to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

It is only then that the Secretary of State can get involved.

The committee’s steering group meets on Tuesday afternoon, and the full committee meets a fortnight later, on Tuesday, November 23rd.

Two Burnley county councillors, the MP’s Lib Dem colleague Margaret Brindle and Dr Misfar Hassan (Labour) are on the scrutiny committee. Dr Hussain is a specialist in child and adolescent mental health and is employed by the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. Burnley Councillor Darren Reynolds, whose Queensgate ward includes Burnley General, sits on the committee but cannot vote.

Said Mr Birtwistle: “I am absolutely furious with the decision of the health authority to move the children’s ward away from Burnley.

“None of my constituents want this move to happen and it will be at their detriment if it does. The local GPs are strongly against this move too.

“The scrutiny committee has the chance to do something about this and put a stop to a terribly wrong decision. Unfortunately, Burnley does not have much representation on the OSC so we are having to rely on council members from other parts of Lancashire to realise the seriousness of this issue.”

Mr Birtwistle was critical of the Strategic Health Authority’s boss Mike Farrar, a former civil servant who established primary care groups and Trusts and Personal Medical Services when he worked at the Department of Health.

He said: “I met with the Chief Executive of NHS North West in his palatial Manchester offices last week. He doesn’t care about the health of children in Burnley but I do.”

He added: “It is critical that the county council calls in the decision for review immediately and puts a stop to this nonsense.

Mr Birtwistle said pressure was now on county councillors. “I am, therefore, making an impassioned plea to those county councillors who sit on the OCR, steering group and its chairman to put this issue on their agenda for urgent review.

“There are children and families whose lives will be ruined by the planned move. Please don’t sit back and let it happen.”

MPs from Pendle and Rossendale are also urging county councillors to call in the decision.