HOSPITALS in East Lancashire have passed an annual health check.

The East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both the Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital, was one of the 51 trusts randomly picked for the Healthcare Commission’s annual study.

Just five of the 51 passed all the checks, and some hospitals were issued with formal improvement notices.

But East Lancashire failed only in displaying its cleaning schedules, by not having them available in all public areas.

Rineke Schram, director of infection prevention and control and medical director, said: “East Lancashire Hospitals has a very good track record of infection prevention and recent performance shows a 50 per cent reduction in MRSA bloodstream infections in the past year – the lowest number in the last seven years.

“Cleaning schedules are now available in ward and public areas and electron-ically via the trust’s website.

“However, the cleaning itself is of an extremely high standard and we are confident that future spot checks will show that we have made real progress with getting many good systems in place.

“Infection prevention and control remains our top priority and we encourage all staff, patients and visitors to work with us to consistently drive down infection rates.

"The public can take confidence in the fact that our hospitals are clean and safe.”