Burnley Council has called for the Secretary of State for Health to review the services provided at Burnley General Hospital.

Burnley Council has called for the Secretary of State for Health to review the services provided at Burnley General Hospital. A meeting of the full council last night agreed a motion by Councillor Darren Reynolds which noted the "alarming" number of complaints from patients and staff and raised concern at the long-term damage that may be caused to the hospital service.

It also called on the Health Secretary to carry out an urgent review into how services such as accident and emergency could be returned to Burnley.

Council leader Councillor Gordon Birtwistle said: "This hospital doesn't just serve the people of Burnley; it serves the people of Rossendale and Pendle and further afield, around 250,000 residents.

We welcome the recent announcement by the East Lancashire Hospital Trust to invest approaching £27 million in the hospital and introduce new 'centre of excellence' services but we can only be satisfied if this is the start of a process to re-establish a full range of services in Burnley.

"We want our facilities back, a quarter of a million people deserve it. We need millions of pounds to be spent on Burnley hospital. We must continue to push to get our hospital back for the people of Burnley."

Cllr Reynolds' motion read: "This Council notes the alarming volume of complaints by patients, staff and manager at East Lancashire's hospitals. These complaints centre on overstretched staff and bed closures at the Royal Blackburn; and on Burnley General's almost empty new PFI building which costs a third of a million pounds per month to run.

"This Council is concerned at the long term damage that may have be done both to the hospital service and to patients. This Council has no confidence in the executive board of the East Lancashire Hospitals Trust and calls upon the Secretary of State for Health to set up an urgent and independent review to advise how services could be restored in both hospitals, including returning the blue light accident and emergency service to Burnley. Burnley Borough Council believes that the Trust should give us our hospital back."

During the debate Cllr Reynolds added: "The hospital we have today is not the same as the one we had a few years ago."