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Setting date for crucial moment

1/11/2006

HEALTH bosses are set to name a date when the future of Macclesfield Hospital will be decided and it is expected to be early December.

A day should be announced at the next meeting of the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts on Wednesday, November 8, at Lancashire County Cricket Ground.

Referring to when the Joint Committee will meet to make its decision, Leila Williams, Director of the Children, Young People and Families Network for Greater Manchester, East Cheshire, and High Peak, said: "We do not yet have a confirmed date for the decision-making meeting although our intention is still for it to take place in early December.

"Work is underway to confirm a suitable date and venue. It will then be up to the members of the Joint Committee to agree the date of the meeting."

This will be a public meeting, open to all.

The network say they have been delighted by the scale of the response to the consultation, and as a direct result identified further options for reconfiguration.

These will be considered by the Joint Committee of PCTs in addition to the original proposals.

But Leila added: "This is all about finding the best way to provide safe, high quality, sustainable inpatient maternity and children's services for children and families across the entire review area.

"The resulting Centres of Excellence will have highly specialised teams of staff dealing with the tiniest babies on a daily basis to enable them to hone their skills."