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Rochdale parents fail in bid to keep open A&E

08/06/2007

The parents of disabled boy who were battling to prevent the closure of an A&E unit in Greater Manchester have lost their high court bid.

David and Lisa-Louise Fitton, whose seven-year-old son Jordan-Lee has a condition known as global development delay, have been campaigning to keep open Rochdale Infirmary's A&E department so that he can receive treatment.

The young boy, who is wheelchair-bound and cannot talk, suffers from life-threatening convulsions, which can last for up to 15 days. He has to be rushed to Rochdale Infirmary's A&E department when his drug therapy fails to work.

However, Mr Justice Bennett decision to reject the parents' case means that Jordan-Lee will have to go on a 25-minute journey to receive urgent treatment.

Jenni Richards, appearing for the NHS, told the court: "The defendant's position is clearly that decisions on NHS reorganisation cannot sensibly be taken by reference to the needs of an individual patient."

The unit at Rochdale will be replaced with a care centre as part of a shake-up of NHS services in north-east Manchester.

Last week, the Pennine Acute NHS Trust confirmed that one in ten beds are to be cut in four of its hospitals, one of which is Rochdale Infirmary.

It is understood that the reduction in beds is part of an economic recovery plan, designed to help the trust resolve its £28 million debt.




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