TOP doctors at Fairfield Hospital have spoken out against plans to axe women's and children's services which could mark the end of its special care baby unit.

A damning letter sent on behalf of hospital consultants to health chiefs has been obtained by the Bury Times, just days before a mass public meeting on Monday.

Dr Anton Sinniah, chairman of the Fairfield Consultants Committee, stated in the letter: "We do not feel these services should be withdrawn from Bury or its population."

Although accepting change in the health service was necessary, Dr Sinniah branded the decision to single out Fairfield as "politically motivated". Under the proposals, Fairfield Hospital stands to lose its special care baby unit, and maternity services would be replaced with a midwife-led unit. Children would no longer be admitted overnight, although there would be an increase in children's day surgery and community-based children's services would be established.

In a letter to Neil Goodwin, chief executive of the Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authority (SHA), Dr Sinniah said the proposals would have a knock-on effect on other services, stating "few surgeons would be happy to carry out operations locally on children without access to paediatricians or their beds".

He dismissed the idea of a midwife unit, saying it gave "the appearance of retaining a service to try to appease the local population.

"Such units used to exist in the locality (Rossendale) but are now closed. Midwife-led units are best sited within the same building as medically-run units to enable rapid access when unforeseen complications occur. What we do not want is an unsatisfactory service to be developed, only to be withdrawn at a later date."

He called for the services at Fairfield to be "enhanced and expanded", saying it would be more "cost efficient".

Dr Sinniah concluded: "What is also more than a coincidence is that the one unit which had no political support has been marked for closure. Anyone who looks at this objectively would conclude that the decision could only have been politically-motivated. If that was the case then clearly it would have to be viewed as an extremely serious matter".

Monday's public meeting -- organised by the Fairfield Baby Lifeline Society (FBLS) -- will be held in the Elizabethan Suite at Bury Town Hall, starting at 7pm.

FBLS chairman Dr Said Hany who is also an associate specialist in paediatrics at Fairfield Hospital, said about the letter: "This is excellent. It is important to have the support of the consultants. Having worked in Bury for such a long time I know we have the best children's and women's services. I could not just sit back and do nothing."

The society has invited a number of health officers to attend Monday's meeting, along with Bury's two MPs, David Chaytor and Ivan Lewis.

Bury North MP Mr Chaytor said: "I agree that the decision about the future of children's services should be made on medical grounds and not political grounds.

"I am surprised the consultants' views were not expressed at an earlier stage, given that this matter has been discussed in detail for the last nine months.

"It is important that they hold an urgent meeting with senior health managers. I am keen to meet with the doctors at Fairfield."

Monday's public meeting will be chaired by Vera Stringer, the chairman of the former Bury Heathcare NHS Trust. A top-table panel will be made up of parents as well as members of the Lifeline society and Paul Reynolds, the chief officer of the former Bury Community Health Council.