A PATIENT treated on Fairfield Hospital's coronary care ward has spoken out against plans to close two beds and relocate nurses, claiming the move could put lives at risk.

Forty-nine-year-old Glynis Makin spent more than a week on Ward One after a heart attack two months ago. She is now recuperating at home but believes others may not be so lucky if the proposals get the go-ahead.

It was revealed in last week's Bury Times that hospital bosses have launched a 30-day consultation into proposals to close two beds and relocate five nurses in a bid to save money for the debt-riddled Pennine Acute Trust.

The news followed plans to close 27 beds at the Rochdale Old Road hospital's rehabilitation ward for the elderly, which have now been delayed for eight weeks following a backlash from Bury councillors and the public, who claimed it needed more open consultation.

Mrs Makin said: "Having a heart attack came completely out of the blue and proves it can happen to anyone. The care and treatment I received was so marvellous but I was one of the lucky ones. If they close two beds somebody may not be as lucky and it just seems terrible to me that they can do this."

Mrs Makin was at home in Ernest Street, Prestwich, when she felt chest pains but put it down to heartburn. When her arms began to tingle and she began feeling sick, she still did not think she was having a heart attack and refused to call an ambulance. Instead her husband, Graham, drove her to hospital.

She said: "As soon as I walked in, the treatment was excellent. They put me on an ECG within minutes and gave me the thrombolysis injection before getting me into recess and up to Ward One. The care was absolutely excellent.

"People having heart attacks are getting younger and younger and it just seems crazy that the answer to this is to close beds. The night I was admitted, three others came in one after another within a few hours - what would happen to them if there were not enough beds?"

Her views have been backed by Brenda Armstrong after her husband, Peter, was admitted to Fairfield last Monday with chest pains. After being diagnosed in accident and emergency that he had suffered a heart attack, he was transferred to Ward Seven for assessment and moved to Ward One later that evening.

Three days later Mr Armstrong suffered another setback when monitors picked up a further problem with his heart and his wife believes he may have died if it was not for the care from staff on the ward.

She said: "Peter was asleep when the heart monitors indicated a serious problem. He was completely oblivious to the fact his heart wasn't beating right and he is still being monitored. The nursing standards are extremely high but, if there are not as many beds, patients could be sent home too soon to make way for other patients and that could put lives at risk.

"The nurses are absolutely devastated that they may no longer be able to do the job that they love and be redeployed elsewhere."

Mrs Armstrong, of Scobell Street, Tottington, added that the closures would also have a knock-on effect on patients' families if they had to travel further to visit a loved one.

She said: "At the moment, Peter can only have visitors for ten minutes at a time. His 85-year-old mother can get a bus directly up to Fairfield if needs be but it would be much more difficult and stressful for her to travel to somewhere like Rochdale at a moment's notice or just for ten minutes. It would be very traumatic for her."

The trust is £28 million in debt due to changes in the way hospitals are funded and has launched a financial recovery programme to tackle the cash crisis. The trust announced earlier this year it was to close 250 beds across its four hospital sites in line with national plans to bring more hospital services into the community.

A spokesman for the hospital said last week that Fairfield was being targeted as it has a lower occupancy rate than the other sites within the trust - North Manchester General, Royal Oldham and Rochdale Infirmary.

  • BED closures at Fairfield came under fire at last night's full meeting of Bury Council. As the Bury Times went to press, members were debating a highly critical motion put forward by the ruling Labour group. It said: "This council condemns the Pennine Acute Hospital Trust for its cynical reduction of beds in Fairfield Hospital ahead of the consultation process to which it was committed."