PATIENTS in accident and emergency departments in Blackburn and Burnley are waiting longer to see a doctor than they were five years ago.

But the figures are in line with with damning national statistics, published in an Audit Commission report.

The report, which looked at hospitals on a trust by trust basis rather than naming and shaming, looked at how long patients waited on trolleys in A&E before being found a bed, and how long it took them to see a doctor.

The report found patients were waiting longer across the country, despite more doctors being brought in.

In Blackburn and Burnley both departments reported waiting times in line with the national average.

But both were working with increased attendances over the past five years.

At Burnley General Hospital, run by Burnley Health Care Trust, 53 per cent of patients wait more than an hour to be seen by a doctor - the same as 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.

Burnley chief executive David Chew said: "We are doing very well with getting people admitted within four hours. Our figures are way, way above the national average.

"Unfortunately, we are not doing so well at the time for seeing a doctor within an hour.

"We are addressing this with a number of issues, including employing two nurse practitioners who will be able to deal with more of the minor injuries."

Mr Chew said that, thanks to a £1million investment programme, plans were being put together to create a children's waiting area; 24 per cent of patients were children.

At Blackburn Royal Infirmary, run by Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS trust, in the first quarter of this year, 68.5 per cent of patients were seen by a doctor within an hour. Ninety-six 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.

A trust spokesman said: "It is a challenging area. We are working hard to maintain our position and improve on it.

"We are also bringing in a bed management team of dedicated staff who will find patients beds and will be on stream by November.

"We are also planning to increase the number of staff, with an extra consultant, bringing the number to four."

The trust has also started training 10 nurse practitioners to work in emergency medicine and has protocols for managers to be on call for patients who have been waiting more than three hours.

The news comes as the government announced a £100 million strategy to cut A&E waiting times over the next three years, including providing dedicated staff to "stream" patients into emergencies and minor injuries when they arrive.