PATIENT care in the area's hospitals is now so bad their bid for foundation status should be delayed, an East Lancashire peer has claimed.

Liberal Democrat Lord Tony Greaves told the House of Lords the Government should defer its decision on the proposal, which would give East Lancashire Hospitals Trust the ability to raise its own cash and gain greater independence.

But rival politicians have slammed the call, saying any delay would lead to greater uncertainty for Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Hospitals, which have been hit by staff complaints, cancelled operations and concerns over private finance deals.

Foundation Trusts, which first appeared in 2004, are seen as the "gold standard" in hospitals, with community trustees taking a much greater role in governing them.

Public consultation for East Lancashire's bid ended this month, and the formal application to the Department of Health is to be made within days.

Mr Greaves said: "There has been a chorus of complaints and continuing tales of Blackburn being unable to cope with the volume of patients while Burnley is under-used.

"It seems extraordinary to ask for much greater independence when there is outrage throughout East Lancashire."

Lord Greaves is also set to write to ministers setting out the problems, particularly since the November Meeting Patients' Needs shake-up which saw blue-light" emergency care and dozens of beds transferred from Burnley to Blackburn.

And on Friday, he will meet trust chief executive Jo Cubbon and chairman Alan Green for talks.

But Hyndburn's Labour MP Greg Pope accused the Liberal Democrats of "whingeing from the sidelines".

He said: "This is typical of their scaremongering over the NHS.

"Moving to foundation status is something we should be celebrating, but instead of congratulating staff and even thanking the government for tripling expenditure in the NHS all they can do is whinge."

And Tory MP for the Ribble Valley Nigel Evans added: "The hospitals need to know how they are going to be operating in the future, and any further uncertainty is not good for the management or the staff.

"Any delay could easily percolate through to disrupt patient care."

Kitty Ussher, Labour MP for Burnley, said: "Bidding for foundation status focuses managers on making improvements, and that can only be a good thing."