WAITING times in casualty departments at hospitals across East Lancashire will come under the spotlight next week as part of a survey by health watchdogs.

Community Health Council members in Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley and Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale will be visiting A & E departments in Blackburn and Burnley for a snapshot of the state of casualty services locally.

Their colleagues from across the country will be doing the same, giving them the full picture of the state of A & E services in Britain.

Members of both CHCs will be taking part in the survey of waiting times this Monday with the results being made public a week later.

Don Pacey, chairman of the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale CHC, said: "Casualty Watch is a great example of the work CHCs do across the country. Over the years this snapshot survey has highlighted major problems at some A&E departments, although Burnley has performed consistently above average in past years.

"Without a local, independent patient watchdog, there is a real danger these problems would never come to light."

Nigel Robinson, chief officer with the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley CHC, said: "We will be collecting statistical information on patients."

The survey is being organised nationally by the Association of Community Health Councils for England and Wales (ACHCEW).

Last year's figures for Blackburn were around three-and-a-half hours for waits, while the highest in the country was up to 28 hours.

An Audit Commission report last year showed 53 per cent of patients in A&E at Burnley General waited more than an hour to see a doctor - as per the national average.

But staff were dealing with 61,000 attendances a year - 13 per cent up on five years ago - and 98 per cent of patients were found a bed within four hours, compared with 75 per cent five years ago. The national average is 53 per cent.

The same survey showed at Blackburn Royal Infirmary, in the first quarter of last year, 68.5 per cent of patients were seen by a doctor within an hour and 96 per cent of patients were admitted within four hours.

Staff were dealing with 66,000 attendances a year, compared with 62,500 five years ago.