AN AMBITIOUS £15m vision, with acute medical cases going to Warrington Hospital and routine day surgery to Halton Hospital has been welcomed by the borough's two MPs.

New and improved services will give patients a better deal, they believe, but warn health chiefs to take better care of Runcorn's facilities.

"In the past, the quality of management on site has been appalling," said Runcorn MP Mike Hall, after meeting hospital bosses with Halton MP Derek Twigg on Tuesday.

"There has to be a massive improvement in the level and quality of management.

"If the reconfiguration is agreed, staff have got to be treated equally on both sites.

"Derek and myself will be watching it very closely to make sure the plans are implemented and delivered."

Staff will find out how the radical shake-

up affects jobs when unions meet management on Thursday.

A hospital Unison spokesperson said: "If they listen to us and work with us, it will be more successful. We want to make sure they get it right."

Allan Massey, chairman of North Cheshire Hospitals Trust, said the changes, expected to take two years, would start in October, after staff had been consulted.

He said: "We're trying to avoid redundancies.We anticipate finding everyone a position.

"I've always wanted to ensure Halton had a future. We can't afford to run two sets of services on two different sites."

A one-stop diagnostic unit, chemotherapy, kidney dialysis unit, extra theatre, re-opened surgical ward, 24-hour anaesthetists, endoscopy centre and daytime emergency assessment service are expansions planned for Halton.