We want proof that it’s better

4:14pm Saturday 8th March 2008

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FEW issues have caused more public anger in East Lancashire in the past decade than the decision to close Burnley General Hospital's accident and emergency department.

And last month's revelation that it has been taking longer for emergency patients to get to casualty since the November shake-up added to the outrage felt across the region.

We said then that it was not good enough for those running our health service to try to fob us off with platitudes.

They had to produce hard facts to win the argument and prove to people that the service had been improved as a result of decisions many suspected had actually been taken for financial reasons.

Now we have figures apparently showing that there has been a very slight reduction in the number of deaths during or immediately after ambulance journeys since emergency hospital care was centralised in Blackburn.

But it is early days and these figures only cover a very short period.

They are also only in the public arena because this newspaper has used the Freedom of Information Act to force their disclosure.

What we should be seeing is a pro-active effort by Trust managers to justify their actions and prove, with facts and figures, that they were right.