A GROUP of MPs will meet Health Secretary Alan Johnson amid fears that a secret decision will lead to serious Mersey burns victims being treated in Manchester.
Five Labour MPs have accused a long-running review of burns care of keeping them in the dark about plans to create a single, specialist centre for the North West.
The move would downgrade the existing burns units at Whiston Hospital, Knowsley, and Alder Hey Hospital, and shift treatment of the most serious injuries to Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester.
Now Mr Johnson will be urged to reveal whether a decision has been taken “in stealth” – after an 18-month period of silence from the National Burns Care Review group.
Derek Twigg, the Halton MP, said: “The review group has been pushing strongly for the unit in Manchester to be designated as the main one, but that would lead to the units at Whiston and Alder Hey being downgraded.
“We were promised we would be kept informed of progress, but we heard nothing for 18 months. Now it seems an announcement will be made that Manchester will be the main centre.
“It seems that decision is being made by stealth. But this ‘super-unit’ will mean the very best people working in Manchester, instead of at Whiston and Alder Hey.”
The Mersey Burns Unit, at Whiston Hospital, boasts a team of nursing, medical, therapy and psychology staff which serves a population of more than 4m across Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and the Isle of Man.
