HEALTH chiefs have defended the performance of East Lancashire's hospitals after they finished near the bottom of an independent survey.

In the Sunday Times Good Hospital Guide, the old Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care Trust came 23rd out of 26 hospital trusts in the north-west.

Burnley Health Care Trust, which merged with the Blackburn trust on Tuesday, fared better, coming 15th in the ratings which claim to be the only truly independent audit of hospital standards in the country.

The guide is compiled taking into account factors such as patient death rates, in-patient and out-patient waiting times and staff numbers per 100 beds.

Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals finished top of the table.

But bosses at the new East Lancashire Hospitals Trust say the poor rankings are at odds with other surveys in which both former trusts excelled. Associate chief executive David Chew said: "We welcome the initiative of the Good Hospital Guide to provide the public with more information about their local health services.

"The guide contains a useful and interesting presentation of a wide range of information.

"The outcome in terms of mortality rates is not a surprise as it has been shown over many years that socio-economic factors such as our industrial heritage, poor housing, low incomes and high levels of smoking are major contribution to the area's poor health.

"East Lancashire is generally a very deprived area and all of these factors undoubtedly impact on the mortality figures in our hospitals.

"While the mortality rate for Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley is higher than average, this is, I believe, a reflection of the level of ill health of our local population rather than of the quality of service provided and the quality of our staff.

"Indeed, only recently both Burnley and Blackburn trusts received very positive reports from the Commission for Health Improvement. Both hold three-star status in the government's national performance rating, reflecting the fact that they achieved the majority of their key targets.

"This is a fitting recognition of the hard work of the dedicated staff striving to achieve what is the highest award in the performance ranking system. Only 48 trusts nationally achieved this status."

The figures showed the Blackburn trust's mortality score, which the study claims takes into account factors such as a population's age and sex, had risen from 110 in 2001 to 112, with 100 the average. Meanwhile, Burnley's score fell seven points to 105 in the same period. Both trusts' waiting times compared favourably with others.