PLANS to close Fairfield Hospital's maternity department and special care baby unit have been temporarily shelved after the health secretary ordered an independent inquiry.

Patricia Hewitt has referred the decision to axe the hospital's maternity department and in-patient children's services to an independent reconfiguration panel to see if the right decision was made.

It means health bosses behind the Making it Better proposals have been forced to hold back on implementing any changes which are irreversible or take action which could prejudice the review.

The surprise announcement was made in the House of Commons on Tuesday by health minister Rosie Winterton, who said: "There will certainly be full consultation on the proposals and we will announce the timetable in due course.

"The area to be covered is rather large, so I expect the consultation to take at least three months."

In December health bosses across the region agreed to close services at Fairfield, Rochdale Infirmary, Trafford General and Hope Hospital within the next five years as part of a massive shake-up of children and maternity services.

But the controversial decision sparked an angry backlash from campaigners and councillors, with Bury Council's healthier communities scrutiny committee agreeing to refer the matter to Ms Hewitt last month.

Wayne Campbell, leader of Bury Council, said: "It is absolutely wonderful news, the best news for the maternity unit at Fairfield we have heard in the last few months. I think part of the key to that was the total party support."

Within the next few weeks, the independent panel - made up of the country's leading experts in women and children's services from outside the North West - will begin the long process of re-examining all the evidence, the consultation process and the clinical issues while speaking to hospital staff, members of the public and the bosses behind Making it Better.

Members of the panel are expected to be appointed next week once requests for a review, expected from overview and scrutiny committees in Bury, Salford and Rochdale, have all be received.

The panel will then make their own recommendations to Ms Hewitt who has the power to overturn the decision.

Bury North MP David Chaytor, who has met with Ms Hewitt to protest at the plans, said: "I think it was inevitable that this was going to happen given the strength of feeling in Bury, Salford and Rochdale.

"Our future is now in the hands of a small group of the nation's leading experts on women and children's healthcare and we will have to accept their final result.

"In that sense, I think we can be satisfied the case for Fairfield will have the most thorough examination possible. We want to make sure we get the opportunity to put our case to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel and explain to them why we still firmly believe that a single maternity unit at Fairfield serving the people of Bury and Rochdale would generate 3,500 births a year and that would be well over the minimum number generally regarded as necessary for a full fledged consultant-led maternity unit."

Health bosses say the planning process will continue to pump up to £60 million into eight "centres of excellence" centralising staff at North Manchester General, Royal Bolton, St Mary's in Central Manchester, Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan, Royal Oldham, Stepping Hill in Stockport, Wythenshawe, and Tameside General.

Each of the eight hospitals will have high dependency cots and special care cots, while millions will be invested into St Mary's, Royal Oldham and Royal Bolton to become super maternity units, with neonatal intensive care units to treat the smallest and sickest babies.

Unless Ms Hewitt decides to overturn the decision, mothers in Bury will have to travel to North Manchester or Royal Bolton to give birth .

John Williams, NHS North West project director for the consultation, said: "For something that has taken six to eight years, including a two year consultation, to get this far and that is going to take three to five years to implement, a review expected to take three months is not long. It is part of the process to give local authorities the chance to make a referral, which they have done."

Leila Williams, director of the Children's, Young People and Families Network who ran the consultation, said:"It is not really a surprise. The consultation and the proposed improvements affect over 3.1 million people served by 13 hospitals in 10 towns and cities and generated over 240,000 public responses.

"We had anticipated this and are fully geared up for a review. It has taken a good number of years to get this far and will take 3 to 5 years to implement the outcome so a further review at this stage is no problem at all. The team will continue with the planning process."