AN SOS message has been issued by residents across Rossendale who are pleading for health officials to Save Our Services.

Several times during a meeting at Rawtenstall town hall, residents claimed the borough's hospital had "sacrificed enough" to Burnley General.

A consultation document on the future of health care in the Rossendale Valley has been issued by East Lancashire Health Authority and over the next three months the community health council is organising discussions with residents.

The consultation started with last night's meeting where no health authority members were present to answer questions from the public.

Former CHC member Noel O'Brien demanded that acute services stayed at the hospital.

He said: "I don't believe it is right for us to be conned into believing we cannot have acute services. We have given up enough to Burnley." He also urged people not to listen to "fear tactics" from the authority that Royal Colleges would not support the services.

Residents pointed out that if people do not have a car, the journey would require four buses from many areas.

Former CHC member Dorothy Ramsden said: "This document says our current 17 beds for day case and surgery should be reduced to 12 - that is a reduction in services. "It is also proposed our medical beds are reduced from 34 to 24 - another reduction in services. A lot of services have already gone from Rossendale and we don't want to lose any more.

"We have fought and fought but it doesn't make any difference with the health authority. We deserve services."

Burnley MP Peter Pike, who attended the meeting, urged the people of Rossendale to "shout and stand up for the services they wanted to see retained".

Membership of the Rossendale Strategy Group, which prepared the document, was also criticised because no local elected member of Rossendale Council had been invited to sit on the panel.

CHC member Helen Lord, a member of the group, said Rossendale could be used for rehabilitating patients who had been operated on at Burnley.

Chairman of the CHC Frank Clifford said: "We want to hear the views from the people of Rossendale so we can formulate our reply to this document and anyone who wants to comment on the report can write to the CHC, 79 Church Street, Burnley BB11 2RS."

The feelings of the meeting will be reported to next week's CHC at Burnley and a working party will be set up to carry out the consultation process.

If the CHC does not agree with the proposals the document could be referred to Health Secretary Frank Dobson. No changes can be implemented until he rules on the plans.

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