General   (General discussion, talk about anything.)

Peter
The phase 4 extension at the Royal Albert included the maternity beds from Billinge. The mental health facilities in Billinge were transferred to the 5 Boroughs partnership, now housed in the new facilities at Leigh.
Whelley beds were transferred to Wigan and Leigh.
The WWL trust has around 750 beds, around a half of the figure of 40 years ago. It mirrors the national picture.
When the Department of Health were setting out long term plans for the NHS towards the end of the last century no account was taken of the 4 million net increase in population that was to take place shortly afterwards.
At the same time £ tens of billions of funding was committed to rebuilding existing hospitals. To keep pace with the increase in population around 12 to 15 new hospitals the size of the WWL trust were needed but the money cupboard was bare. The only money cupboard that can be raided without affecting home policies, or raising taxation, is the overseas aid budget.