SPECIALIST maternity services in East Lancashire are in position to be rolled out further than its current catchment area, according to a hospitals chief executive.
County councillors are concerned the ongoing health and social care sustainability and transformation (STP) process for the county and neighbouring South Cumbria could affect the Lancashire Women and Newborns Centre at Burnley General Teaching Hospital.
Cllrs Azhar Ali and Tony Martin, cabinet members, fear the neo-natal intensive care unit, one of two in Lancashire alongside another at the Royal Preston Hospital, could be in jeopardy.
But bosses at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust have launched a robust defence of the facility, off Briercliffe Road.
Trust chief executive Kevin McGee told a board meeting that he wanted East Lancashire’s maternity services to be available “on a wider footprint” in future.