Preferred option is to keep fairfield's A&E unit

I wanted to write this letter to try and alleviate any fears about plans to improve local services and to encourage everybody to have their say during the consultation period. It should be remembered that the preferred option chosen by the Special PCT Joint Committee would maintain accident and emergency services at Fairfield General Hospital.

The NHS is constantly improving the standards of care in regard to safety, and meeting ever stringent employment legislation. Part of this process is more specialisation by doctors and nurses to ensure that they can give the most up-to-date care to patients. It is not possible with these changes to maintain every service in each existing hospital. Therefore, doing nothing is not an option. Leaving services as they are would mean that over time, they would not meet the required standards. If you need urgent or emergency care you need to be cared for in a place with the right equipment, back-up services and staff.

At the heart of Healthy Futures is the aim to provide better health care in the North East of Greater Manchester in the future and make overall access for patients quicker and more convenient.

Over the years, we have seen a sharp rise in chronic diseases, for example asthma and diabetes, accounting for 80 per cent of all patients the NHS treats. Too many of these patients are travelling to hospitals, when they could be cared for just as well close to their homes.

Healthy Futures gives us a really exciting opportunity to continue to improve the standards of care and make services more convenient. We are planning to invest millions of pounds in new community health facilities and at the same time provide more streamlined, specialised and effective hospital services.

A lot of work has gone into developing the possible Options for Change. Local medical staff, patients, carers and the public have been involved. These options now feature in the formal Healthy Futures consultation document.

Within the formal consultation document there are three Options for Change. Option one, however, is the currently preferred Option which it is believed would deliver the best and most accessible health care for local people. Under Option one, Fairfield General Hospital along with North Manchester General Hospital and The Royal Oldham Hospital would continue to provide accident and emergency and acute medicine services. Option one is much wider than accident and emergency services and full details are described in the formal consultation document. All three Options would see a major investment in community health facilities.

I would like to stress that Healthy Futures is about investment for the future and not about cost cutting. We need to ensure that services are available in the right place at the right time, when and where they are needed.

I would encourage all local people to obtain a copy of the consultation document, either in summary or in full, to read about the Options for Change and to express their views. The consultation document contains some really useful case studies to demonstrate how services could work in the future. The documents are available in local libraries, on the internet and from the PCT on the number given below.

I must stress that any change to services would be actively managed and no services would change until new and enhanced services were firmly in place. No decisions have been made, and this is your chance to have your views heard.

EVAN BOUCHER,

Chief Executive,

Bury Primary Care Trust (PCT)

l Both the Healthy Futures and the Making it Better consultations are running up to and including April 13. Documents available at www.bestforhealth.nhs.uk or hard copies are available by calling Bury PCTs Patient and Public Involvement team on 0161 762 3107. Two public meetings have been arranged by Bury PCT and will take place as follows: Monday, January 23, 6.30pm - 9pm, and Monday, March 6, 6.30pm - 9pm. Both are be held at the Elizabeth Suite, Bury Town Hall.