A PATIENTS' champion from East Lancashire today pledged to ensure health workers pay more attention to the views of those they are treating.

Professor Iqbal Singh, a consultant physician at Queens Park Hospital, in Blackburn, since 1983, was this month appointed one of 14 commissioners to improve health care for patients in England and Wales.

The new independent Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection aims to inspect services, review performances and then publish their findings.

It replaces inspectorates for private and NHS care and will focus on patients by addressing their concerns.

Prof Singh said the health service had sometimes ignored the views of patients and had suffered as a result.

He said: "The commission will work on behalf of all patients in England and Wales, including those whose views are sometimes ignored, such as children, older people, users of mental health services and those from ethnic minorities.

"We aim to achieve improvement in the quality of health and health care by becoming authoritative source of information by inspecting, improving and informing.

"I think it is a great honour to be a part of this and it is an opportunity to be able to be involved in the healthcare strategy at the highest level.

"I would hope that for the people of East Lancashire, as well as for people everywhere, we will be able to improve health by informing them and making sure their views are taken into account. Particularly in East Lancashire, where there are high levels of disease and morbidity.

"We want to ensure the views of people of East Lancashire are respected.

"With having someone from the area in this role it will hopefully encourage local people who would not ordinarily get involved to participate."

The commission will also publish healthcare information notifying patients of choice, healthcare professionals of ways to improve - and the taxpayer of how their money is being spent.

In its first year, the healthcare team's work will include carrying out assessments of NHS primary care and mental health trusts, collecting information for rating performance and collecting the views of patients and those who work in healthcare.

Locally one of its first roles will be to assess the mental health services provided by Lancashire Care NHS Trust.

In the summer, it will also launch a system for hearing appeals from patients and carers dissatisfied with how their complaints have been addressed by local health organisations.