WHERE to put essential services is one of the most taxing problems faced by those in charge of our hospitals.

Those responsible for balancing the budget, meeting targets and providing care face an on-going challenge.

But at the heart of their considerations should always be the patients themselves.

The decision to transfer a fracture clinic from Burnley to the Royal Blackburn Hospital looks as though it may not have been the best move.

Just over a month into the scheme, health watchdogs are reporting that patients are having issues with it.

East Lancashire Hospitals Trust will always have to fight parochialism - Burnley folk don’t want to see what they perceive as a loss of services to Blackburn and vice versa.

But the efficiency and effectiveness of a service must be continually monitored.

Clearly a month into a new way of working is not long enough to give a true picture. And when the fracture clinic left Burnley it was promised that it would be for a six-month trial period.

So patients must make their feelings known - both those for the move and those with genuine reasons to be against it. After all what is a health service for if it isn’t to treat patients effectively?