COUNCILLORS say they are concerned about the future of hospital services for Bury patients following a decision to merge North Manchester General with two other hospitals in the city.

Members of Bury Council's health scrutiny committee expressed worries over the lack of consultation about the move and say they have been left "uncomfortable" about the decision affecting the hospital, which treats many patients from the Bury area.

Last month the Manchester Health and Wellbeing Board accepted a recommendation to create a single organisation within the next two years which will run North Manchester General together with Central Manchester University Hospital and University Hospital of South Manchester.

But councillors fear it could be the start of consolidation which could see services moved away from North Manchester General Hospital.

Central and South Manchester will join together in April next year, followed by North Manchester in October 2018 once it is extracted from the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

At a Bury Council meeting, Cllr John Mallon said: "We have not seen any data which has shown us how this decision is going to impact on patients.

"So I have residents coming up to me telling me they go to North Manchester now and they are worrying as to where they are going to go.

"We are now talking about the potential reduction in hospital provision and I feel really uncomfortable if this has a negative impact on death rates."

Stuart North, chief officer of Bury Clinical Commissioning Group, who attended the meeting, said no decision has yet been made about service provision.

He told councillors: "What you are alluding to with hospitals closing has not been determined.

"What these organisations have agreed is that it would be better if they all worked together.

"From them working together there may then be a recommendation where they consolidate the services on one or two sites. But there has been no decision at this stage.

"In time there may be a conclusion that it would be a more effective and sustainable service if they reconfigured the service. At that point they would need to consult."

Cllr Joan Grimshaw said there was concern amongst residents over the future of the hospital, which currently provides maternity care for Bury residents after Fairfield Hospital's own unit was closed.

She said: "People in Bury are very worried about North Manchester disappearing.

"They have heard that it will all be under one site and not split sites and, with the members of the public, it is fear of the unknown. They are worried they are going to lose their services.

"I know numerous members of the public who use it regularly and they are worried that if it goes then what will Bury have?"

Mr North stressed that any decisions about service provision would be subject to a full consultation.

Sir Johnathon Michael, independent review director for the Single Hospital Service Review has said that combining the three city hospitals "should not be to the detriment of the hospital services outside of the city."

Manchester hospital bosses believe that having a single organisation running the city's three hospitals will mean services are improved.

Mr North said: "It is right that there is an uncertainty. But nationally there is an uncertainty because health and social care as it is at the moment is not sustainable and there need to be changes everywhere.

"The details of those changes have not been worked out. It is a difficult message for the public."

But Cllr Mallon stressed that there is not enough detail about the decision in the Single Hospital Service Review report for Bury councillors to determine whether the consolidation of the three hospitals is reasonable.

"It is full of fresh air and I am clueless," he said.

"At the very least we need to be asked and consulted. We cannot sit back and let someone else decide what is going to happen to the people of Bury."