PROTESTORS have vowed to take their fight to other hospitals including Royal Blackburn after NHS bosses admitted the A&E department in Chorley will not reopen until at least next April.

Hospital campaign leader Steve Turner said they planned escalate their protests to other hospitals affected by the prolonged closure.

He said: "We believe this is a move to close our A&E indefinitely.

"This isn't good for these other A&Es and the people they are intended to serve.

"It is having a negative affect on the North West Ambulance Service, some ambulances queuing for hours to hand over sick or injured people."

Other A&E units are reportedly taking the strain since Chorley's was closed in April.

Mr Turner added that protests would take place on Saturday, September 17 outside A&E units at Blackburn, Preston, Wigan, Bolton, Blackpool and Lancaster.

Last week, Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle called on the board of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to resign after health commissioners confirmed their efforts to recruit enough middle grade doctors to run the casualty ward had failed.

An announcement was made after a meeting of the System Resilience Group (SRG) at Leyland last week, with only two such doctors on the rota, and another seven required.

Mr Hoyle said: “The hospital board and the clinical commissioning group should resign now while they still have some honour.

"This is a crisis which is affecting every hospital in Lancashire. Why can’t they find these doctors?”

Trust bosses have vowed they will continue to recruit - but maintain the A&E unit will not return for patient safety reasons.

Jan Ledward, the SRG chairman, said: “Despite extensive and continuous efforts to recruit the additional staff required, there are still not enough doctors to reinstate a safe and sustainable Chorley A&E department.”

The decision has been taken amid growing unease over the urgent care centre there being run in future by a private contractor. Questions have already been raised over the tendering process.

Mrs Ledward added: “A new integrated urgent care service, currently being commissioned by clinical commissioners, will provide a 24/7 urgent care service in the future on the Chorley and Royal Preston Hospital sites.