AMBITIOUS plans to enable East Lancashire's hospitals to become self-governing have been narrowly backed by councillors in Burnley.

Executive members of Burnley Council remain uneasy about a raft of changes to services at the town's general hospital, in Casterton Avenue, which has seen blue-light' emergencies transferred to the Royal Blackburn Hospital instead.

And council leader Gordon Birtwistle made an impassioned speech deploring the fact that, due to reorganisation, a number of wards at the newly-built £120million phase V development at the Burnley hospital were currently standing idle.

But councillors were warned that if a foundation trust was not formed for East Lancashire - as the result of a bid launched by the current NHS Trust - they could run the risk of an out-of-town health organisation assuming control of Burnley's and Blackburn's hospitals.

In a knife-edge vote, the executive voted to back the proposals, with four councillors out of the seven-strong cabinet supporting the move. Coun Birtwistle abstained and two other councillors voted against the plans.

Deputy council leader Coun Margaret Lishman said: "If East Lancashire hospitals do not become a foundation trust, then we will in effect lose out on the chance of having some excellent services delivered for our hospital. It is necessary for our hospital to operate equally with its fellow sites in the area."

Coun Birtwistle insisted he needed more information about what the benefits would be for Burnley General.

He said he had been inundated with complaints from people in Burnley about cancelled operations and difficulties in accessing services at the Royal Blackburn site.

He added: "That hospital deals with 300,000 people across Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, and parts of the Ribble Valley, and people are being subjected to this rank incompetence and it has got to stop. If this will stop this situation and improve it then okay.

"But I will need to see a report on how we will get this situation back before I can vote for it, so I will abstain."

Foundations trusts have greater independence from the Government.

They are overseen by a board of governors which must include a majority of patients and members of the public. The plans need the backing of all East Lancashire councils.