CAMPAIGNERS have been told that Chorley Hospital’s accident and emergency department is not likely to reopen in August.

Health chiefs have reviewed the expected number of trainee doctors expected to join casualty ward rotas and ruled that it would not be safe to reinstate the unit.

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Protesters had already called for the board of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to resign after a public meeting earlier this week.

Jan Ledward, chief officer for Chorley’s clinical commissioners, said: “While there has been a small improvement in staffing levels, the number and level of doctors we currently have means that we are still not in a position to support a re-opening of the A&E service at Chorley at this current time”

Prof Mark Pugh, the NHS trusts’ medical director, said: “Our absolute priority is patient safety and the quality of services we provide. It would be negligent and an unacceptable risk to patients for us to re-open a service that would not be safe due to doctor shortages”

Campaigners claim A&E reception staff at Chorley have already been approached regarding their relocation to Preston. A vote of no confidence was passed in the hospital trust board and the board has been urged to stand aside in a letter to chairman Stuart Heys.

There is also anger that the urgent care centre there could be run by private operators.

Steve Turner, campaign organiser, said: “We think the temporary closure is a stepping stone to a permanent closure.”

Hospital bosses in East Lancashire say a ‘small number’ of extra patients from Chorley area have been admitted to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, since the former was closed.

An urgent care centre would still operate at Chorley, with the A&E at the Royal Preston Hospital taking blue-light emergencies.