BURNLEY General Hospital bosses have spoken of the boost provided by a new £1million ward to provide extra beds for trust patients this coming winter.

Ward 5 will provide 28 extra medical beds in time for when hospital admissions traditionally increase.

The development will provide, in addition to the beds, an extension to Ward 1 which will link the new building to the existing hospital.

Work has already begun on the new ward and is expected to be completed by the middle of October, with the beds fully operational by the beginning of November. The cost of the development is being funded from the trust's capital development programme and is in addition to the recent £20million plans announced last month.

Those plans, which included new beds for stroke and dermatology patients, outpatient accommodation, a new renal unit and hospital entrance, came under fire when it was revealed they would be paid for by private money.

The new beds will mean that the hospital will be able to keep more medical emergencies in the same ward rather than scattered over the hospital as happens at present.

Hospital bosses said the new ward would help them tackle the problem of cancelled operations and keep waiting times to a minimum.

Geoffrey Summers, director of facilities at the trust, said: "The £20million phase five development will give us extra capacity, but not for two or three years.

"This additional 28-bed ward will give us immediate extra bed capacity and will allow us to deal with the increasing number of emergencies, while maintaining a full range of other services.

"It will enable the trust to keep waiting times to a minimum and further reduce the occasions when operations are post-poned at short notice."

Burnley MP Peter Pike welcomed the development new ward and praised the trust for taking action to address the problem of shortfall of beds.

He said: "I welcome the action being taken by the trust to meet the demands on beds, which has been increasing steadily over the last 12 months and which is no longer just winter pressure.

"I'm pleased to see they are taking the initiative rather than sitting back and waiting for the completion of the £20million scheme."