A SENIOR hospital consultant today slammed NHS bosses for axeing skin-care beds and warned patients will need longer treatment to get better.

The doctor said cutting dermatology beds from 11 to four to save cash would lengthen treatment for people with painful skin conditions.

They said the cuts will mean some people with conditions like eczema and psoriasis will not be offered an overnight stay where treatment is quicker and more effective.

And a move by bosses to have more people seen during the day without an overnight bed would limit treatment to potentially more dangerous methods, they added.

All East Lancashire skin patients are seen at Burnley. The cuts were the first to be made from a total of 267 beds to save £2.5 million for cash-strapped East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The furious Burnley General Hospital doctor, who asked not to be named, said: "One very valuable option for people with extensive skin disease is being reduced.

"The reduction in bed numbers is going to make it difficult to admit people more and that is going to influence the choice of treatment that we can offer."

And the consultant blasted Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt who recently claimed the NHS had enjoyed its "best year ever".

The doctor said: "This is not the best year ever for dermatology patients in East Lancashire."

Today a health boss said she was "disappointed" the consultant has spoken out and insisted patient care would not suffer.

When the changes come in, by July, the consultant said not only will waiting times go up but those who are seen without an overnight stay face a treatment programme of between four to six weeks.

This was compared to ten to 12 days if the patient got a bed, the consultant said: "There is something about admission and rest which accelerates clearance time and the speed of recovery.

"With outpatient treatment you have all the stresses of coming in for treatment."

Unlike common skin treatments, the doctor said more patients will get "systemic" drugs which are injected or taken in tablet form.

But the consultant said: "We are going to be forced into using systemic drugs, particularly for eczema and psoriasis.

"The worry is these drugs increase the risk of infection and some may increase the risk of certain cancers.

"The drugs are expensive. Some of the newer drugs we will probably have to use are about £10,000 a year."

Anne Asher, divisional director for medicine, said: "I am disappointed a colleague felt the need to make this kind of anonymous statement."

She said the trust was looking to treat patients "who may previously have been admitted to hospital" on a "daily basis". This would be "an improved, more convenient service".

And she said four beds would be "sufficient" as, according to latest figures, about 65 per cent of beds are occupied at one time.