EAST Lancashire has long had trouble attracting doctors, dentists and other medical people to the area.

Big efforts have been made to try to produce incentives to solve the problem.

One useful weapon in the armoury of factors that could swing a decision in our favour is the ability to provide attractive places from which to work.

With this in mind, news that that up to £48million is to be spent across the area over the next five years on six new health centres housing a range of services is a real tonic.

Sites are being sought in Burnley, Blackburn, Accrington Briercliffe and Clitheroe for the centres which will be build by a private sector construction company.

Then they will effectively be leased to the local primary care trust and sublet to GPs, pharmacists and even dentists.

Such private-public sector partnerships have had their critics over the past few years - and some involving very large buildings have hit snags.

But there seems no reason why this scheme should not work and provide an otherwise unobtainable massive injection of resources for a financially hard-hit National Health Service.

And it will mean welcome clean, new facilities for both patients and practitioners.