PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
NATIONAL BURN CARE REVIEW (31 October 2006)

That this House notes that the criteria of the National Burn Care Review are to avoid occasional practice, to provide effective capacity for management of major burns and to improve standards of burn care; is concerned that the concept of burn centres proposed to meet these criteria is based on an Australian/USA model which is not applicable to the UK, given major differences in population density and urban environments, particularly in the North West of England and North Wales; is further concerned that the definition of a complex burn adopted in the Review is insufficiently refined and that any change in definition would undermine all previous capacity planning assumptions in the Review; is further concerned at the artificial separation of intensive therapy unit and intensive care unit patients in the Review, as seriously burned patients typically are stepped up and down between these categories; observes that poorly planned and insufficient burn centre capacity would result in delays in the treatment of seriously burned patients, since beds would need to be found throughout the UK as burns units would not have the required resources nor expertise as they became progressively deskilled and underfunded; further notes in particular the risk to current services in reconstructive surgery, such as plastics and prosthetics, which are closely linked to burn care management but have a major role also in cancer and other services; and concludes that burn care needs in the North West of England and North Wales are such that they require the provision of two burn centres.

Sponsored by:
Mr Edward O'Hara (Labour)