THE newly formed East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has received its first Charter Mark Award - thanks to the efforts of a staff health centre.

The former Blackburn Hyndburn & Ribble Valley Trust became a Health Promoting Hospital (HPH) in September 1997, one year after Burnley Health Care Trust achieved the same status, and it was due to Burnley's example that Blackburn successfully introduced the initiative.

The Centre for HPH is based at Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn where four complementary therapists provide a range of treatments to staff, family and friends.

The former Blackburn Trust recently won the Health Challenge Award for the NHS and is a Beacon site for its staff health initiatives.

Margaret Eastham, Health Promoting Hospitals Manager, said: "When the envelope arrived I can only liken it to opening the results from any important examination. The first word written was congratulations.

"The Centre is the first department in the newly combined trust to gain the Charter Mark Award and indeed the first Health Promoting Hospital ever to achieve this status.

"As a consequence we have been invited to write an article for the next issue of the International Newsletter of the HPH Network, as well as being invited to present at their 11th International Conference in Italy in May.

"This accolade has meant so much to us and without the support of colleagues this would have remained a dream.

"We hope that the Centre for HPH can continue to play an important part in delivering the public health agenda throughout the newly formed East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust."