THE future of Bury's hospitals will top the agenda at a Bury and Rochdale Health Authority meeting on Wednesday (July 8).

The results of a public consultation are to be given detailed consideration.

Plans are in hand to close Bury General Hospital on Walmersley Road and centralise Bury medical services at Fairfield General Hospital on Rochdale Old Road.

The health authority has urged local people to back the moves throughout the consultation, highlighting single-site benefits on several different levels.

Points in favour include a reduction in the number of ambulance journeys, a single-site service would reduce the number of trips by 3,000 annually. Movements involving staff and deliveries would also be cut.

Problems include access to Fairfield which has been described by Mr Evan Boucher, Bury and Rochdale Health Authority director of strategic planning and commissioning, as "passable, not ideal".

But he added: "With a single site operation it will be easier for patients to come in and we will be better placed in terms of the recruitment and retention of key staff.

"It is my opinion that core emergency services as they stand cannot be sustained even in the medium term."

All parties involved with the possible relocation are confident that any anticipated access difficulties can be dealt with and are working towards their minimisation.

It seems likely that the public consultation results will show support for the moves.

In common with all Bury and Rochdale Health Authority meetings, this latest one at 6pm at the Elizabethan Suite, Bury Town Hall, is open to the public.

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