THE Government last night sought to side-step the row over plans to transfer specialist cancer services out of Cornwall, writes WMN London Editor Matt Chorley.

Challenged to intervene in the dispute, health minister Mike O'Brien insisted tough decisions about where patients are treated were best made "locally".

The statement appeared to be an attempt to avoid being drawn directly into the row over the future of Upper GI cancer services, and leave it to health officials in the Westcountry to decide how that care is offered, but Mr O'Brien did agree to meet with concerned MPs.

Until now, the Department of Health has refused to comment on the centralisation plans, which local health trusts say will give more patients a better chance of living longer.

In the House of Commons yesterday, Falmouth and Camborne MP Julia Goldsworthy cited a report in the Western Morning News that Cornwall Council is to hold an urgent meeting to look again at the relocation proposals.

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At the same time, Devon County Council has requested that the Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, look at plans to also move care from Exeter to Plymouth.

Ms Goldsworthy called on ministers to meet campaigners to "discuss the impact of this central policy on local access to services".

Mr O'Brien said he would be "very happy" to hold a meeting, but moved quickly to quash hopes that Whitehall might intervene.

"Let me just say that we also need to accept that decisions have to be made in the health service about where facilities are placed," he told MPs. "They are difficult decisions and they are best arrived at locally."

It is the first time ministers have commented on the proposals publicly. Department of Health sources said Mr Burnham was reluctant to get involved in a local dispute.

Yesterday, the WMN revealed that the powerful overview and scrutiny committee (OSC) at Cornwall Council will debate the issue ahead of the scheduled transfer of services from Cornwall to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth on January 1.

It is expected that the meeting will be held on December 10 at County Hall in Truro.

Between 20 and 30 people in Cornwall would be affected by the removal of services from the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Truro.

In April, under a previous administration, the OSC decided the change was not "substantial" and a public inquiry was not needed. Instead, NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, the primary care trust (PCT) which holds the purse strings, undertook a "public engagement" process.

But since then new evidence has emerged – including revelations in the WMN that the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust was warned the changes were so substantial that not holding a public consultation may be "unlawful".

PCT officials later released their own legal advice which dismissed these claims and supported their actions.

Dr Gabriel Scally, director of public health for the South West, said he could not understand why the opinions of experts in the field were being ignored.

"The clinical evidence has not changed and that makes clear that centralised services improve people's chances of surviving from cancer," he said.

"The decision to move services was made because the evidence says it will save lives."