SO-CALLED "federation" of services and specialities between neighbouring and ostensibly competing NHS hospital trusts is evidently the coming thing in health care.

The trend has been sparked by the need to pool resources for greater efficiency and economy - though some patients may be losers when care and treatment are moved further away from their homes.

Such developments have already provoked concerns here in East Lancashire.

But today comes marvellous proof that federation and inter-trust co-operation also works the other way, bringing health services closer to our doorsteps - in a big way.

That comes with the disclosure that health bosses in East Lancashire have been given the go-ahead to develop a specialist unit across hospitals in Blackburn and Burnley for the treatment of lung, breast and stomach cancers.

At a stroke, this will mean that many East Lancashire cancer patients will no longer have to undergo arduous journeys to and from the Christie Hospital in Manchester for traumatic chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

That gain alone makes this development most welcome.

But we see another potential bonus.

For the introduction of this new speciality helps secure the future of our hospitals in East Lancashire, as it inevitably boosts their expertise and defends them against the run-down spiral that may develop when patients and revenue are attracted to trusts elsewhere.

After all, as we have already seen from future-thinking on health care in East Lancashire, the trend could be towards fewer hospitals in our region or even none at all if the larger, city-based hospitals develop into centres of excellence built around particular specialities.

This federation scheme by East Lancashire's hospital trusts guards against that possibility by giving us the prospect of our own centre of excellence in the vital fight against cancer right here in our own region.

Thus, in addition to the practical boon it will bring to seriously ill patients, who need no longer travel to Manchester, we also have an encouraging form of insurance for the future health of our hospitals.

It is a welcome move - and a smart one.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.