Why two A&E's are needed in East Lancashire

Prior to the closure of Burnley's A&E department the East Lancashire Hospital NHS Trust knew they were taking a huge risk when A&E services were transferred from Burnley to Blackburn.

So why was this integration of one A&E (Burnley) into another (Blackburn)  such a worry for hospital bosses?

The answer is geographical location and population count. In other words, the Royal Blackburn Hospital wasn't central to the largest distribution of East Lancashire residents and more importantly, it was 'unknown' whether a single A&E would cope with such large numbers of intakes. As we now know, it couldn't.

East Lancashire has a population of over 526,000 residents (2008 census) and is now likely over 600,000 upwards.

The Royal College of Surgeons clearly stated that any population over 400,000 would require TWO hospitals both with A&E facilities (departments). Anything less may result in severe over-capacity and other related problems.

Did the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust consider this before closing Burnley's A&E?
Clearly not,  and although ambulances queued outside the only A&E in East Lancashire they insisted they would continue to provide high-quality services to the people of East Lancashire.

Other Hospital Trusts are consistently meeting their targets and at the same time providing quality healthcare.

Here's a list of those other Hospital Trusts, the population they serve and the number of A&E's.:

Chorley - Preston, distance 9 miles - population 425,000. Number of  A&E's = 2

Halifax - Huddersfield,  distance 6 miles, population 375,000. Number of A&E's = 2

Bolton - Bury, distance 10 miles, population 470,000. Number of A&E's = 2

Blackburn - Burnley, distance 14 miles, population 600,000+ . Number of A&E's = 1

Whilst other neighbouring  trusts meet NHS targets and provide quality hospital health care, we in Burnley & Pendle have to endure cancelled operations or wait our turn in the back of an ambulance queued outside the Blackburn Hospital.

Why should the residents of Burnley & Pendle and surrounding areas be stuck with only '1' A&E when it's evident that '2' A&E's would share the workload much better, and more importantly, provide a much safer hospital service.

Related links:

Peter Pike and Ian Woolley's full Document for the A&E Independent Review

Two A&E's for population smaller than East Lancs

Ambulance turn-around times increased

• AMBULANCES are taking more than 20 per cent longer to arrive at emergency calls than two years ago when Burnley A&E was closed.
  
  

• Call-out times have increased across East Lancashire, meaning patients are facing a potentially “critical” extra wait for ambulances.
  
  

• The North West Ambulance Service admitted its performance had “decreased” since 2007.
  
  

• St John's Ambulance service had to be drafted in to cope with extra pressure on North West ambulance service.
  
  

• The Burnley and Pendle areas have been “stripped of ambulance cover” because most of the vehicles are concentrated around Blackburn A&E.

Despite assurances from health bosses, the closure of Burnley’s accident and emergency unit in 2007 has no doubt made the ambulance service worse.

East Lancashire 999 ambulance response times go up

East Lancashire's second rate A&E Service claim