Hospital news disastrous for Heywood!

Heywood Councillor Peter Rush has vowed to fight to save maternity and childcare services at Fairfield Hospital. Maternity and Child Care Services were axed, along with Rochdale Infirmary which leaves no services in Bury or Rochdale.

Councillor Rush said, "I will fight tooth and nail to save services at Fairfield Hospital. This is a disgraceful decision and we feel let down by Health Bosses who have ignored our voice. I have already have contact with my colleagues on the Council in Bury and we are going to co-ordinate a response. I am shocked and disappointed but the people of Heywood have my assurance that this is not the end. I will also be pushing the Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee to ask the Secretary of State for Health to review this decision."

Council Leader Alan Taylor said, "The decision to axe these services in Bury and Rochdale is hugely upsetting. This has been an expensive sham from the start and I am devastated for campaigners. If Health Bosses have their way - Born and Bred in Rochdale will be a thing of the past. It is quite obvious that we have not been listened to. Consultation Bosses have spent hundreds of thousands to hire spin doctors, but they cannot package this in any other way that Fairfield Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary will never be the same again. They will try and tell us that these damaging proposals are a step forward - I say they don't understand the feeling on the ground. It's ironic that this cost cutting exercise has cost so much and the people of Heywood and Rochdale feel short changed and let down."