NHS trust purposely ran down hospital - councillor

A community hospital is closing because it has been "deliberately run down" and "systematically allowed to decay", two councillors have said.

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) said last month it would be shutting Accrington Victoria Hospital because of safety fears.

Labour councillors Paul Cox and Andrew Clegg called for renewed investment in the building instead as Hyndburn Council decided to write to new health secretary Wes Streeting urging him to block the closure.

However, ELHT said the 130-year-old hospital on Haywood Road was in a “critical condition” and "beyond repair", with main NHS services remaining in the town.

Councillors Cox and Clegg told a council meeting the closure had been rushed through by the trust, which had vans emptying the building within days of the announcement.

Cox said: "EHLT have been wanting to close this hospital for decades.

"The crucial services have been eked away."

Clegg added: “Our hospital has been systematically allowed to decay."

The council’s Conservative group leader Zak Khan said: "We fully support this motion."

His predecessor in the job, Councillor Marlene Haworth said: "This town needs a hospital."

The chief executive of the trust, Martin Hodgson, said: “The simple truth is that the building is beyond repair or reconfiguration as a health care facility and we have been unable to keep on top of the immense, routine maintenance required for quite some time.

"Despite investing millions in the building over its 130-year history, large parts of the building are closed, the roof has collapsed in a number of places, it’s full of asbestos and the heating system originally fired by three boilers is down to one."

He said the Minor Injuries Unit, X-Ray, Outpatients and GP services currently provided at the hospital would be relocated to either Accrington PALS in the town centre or Acorn health centre on Blackburn Road.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected] and via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.