OTHER health services across East Lancashire are also facing cuts.

NHS East Lancashire, which commissions and provides health services for Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale, has been told it must save around £75million by 2014-15.

Blackburn with Darwen Care Trust Plus has to find £17million to shed from its spending in 2011-12.

Bosses are currently drawing up their plans on how to achieve the levels required. One area close to being finalised is the strict rationing of certain NHS treatments.

Lancashire’s primary care trusts have drawn up a list of procedures that have been deemed ‘low priority’, including fertility treatment, hysterectomies, specialised treatment for autism and various procedures for varicose veins, knee and back pain.

Bosses say they have no choice but to focus on core treatments because of the spiralling costs of drugs and an increased demand for services.

Under the proposals, patients will be less likely to have their tonsils removed on the NHS, unless they have suffered repeated bouts of tonsillitis.

Alternative treatments like homeopathy, which are only rarely available on the NHS in East Lancashire, are also facing cut-backs.

In other areas, trusts have already restricted procedures like hip replacements and fertility treatment.

Nationally more than 50,000 NHS jobs face being axed, according to False Economy which obtained the figures.

The TUC said the research ‘gives the lie’ to Government claims that the NHS was safe in their hands.

But the Department of Health claims the government is reducing NHS bureaucracy and ploughing the money straight back into patient care.