NORTH Manchester General Hospital's Special Care Baby Unit is to close because of a shortage of doctors.

Babies needing to be cared at the specialist unit will be rushed to Fairfield General Hospital in Bury or to the Royal Oldham Hospital or Rochdale Infirmary.

The closure following a lack of paediatricians means there will be no specialist facilities for babies in the north Manchester area.

There is a fear that vital minutes could be lost while patients are being transferred.

Mums expecting a baby which may need special care will be sent to neighbouring hospitals, while the maternity unit at the hospital will operate as normal for other patients.

The unit at the Crumpsall-based hospitals can care for 14 babies at anyone time.

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust which governs both North Manchester and Fairfield General confirmed the unit was being "temporarily suspended".

A spokesman for the Trust said: "The decision to suspend this service has not been taken lightly and has come about as a result of the Trust not being able to recruit appropriate medical staff to provide the necessary level of cover to deliver a safe service to babies.

"During service suspension a number of patients will require transfer to neighbouring units to ensure an appropriate level of care is afforded to them.

"Those patients who require transfer to other units for in-patient antenatal care will be given a full explanation of the reasons during an antenatal appointment, as well as a letter explaining the current situation."

She added: "The Trust recognises the ongoing review of service provision for children across Greater Manchester and is actively contributing to the strategic debate.

"In recognition of the need to provide a high quality and accessible service the Trust is developing detailed plans to reopen the special care baby unit as soon as possible."

Trust bosses say the closure of the unit will allow for refurbishment to take place.