AT a time when some believe the National Health Service needs a check-up itself, services in Blackburn have been given a thorough check up.

As the service nationally struggles to cope with over-stretched staff and resources and more patients than ever before, both staff and management of Blackburn's two hospitals, Queen's Park Hospital and Blackburn Royal Infirmary, are proud of the job they are doing for local people.

The hospitals take patients from all over East Lancashire and the success is something everyone has played their part in, from porters and cleaners through to doctors and managers of the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust.

The trust was given its three-star rating, the best it could get, after being judged on everything from how quickly it saw patients and staff sickness rates to cleanliness.

Chief executive John Thomas said it rewarded the work done by all 3,000 staff, but it was not time to sit back and relax. "We knew we would do reasonably well and we were obviously delighted with our three star rating."

"But we must focus on patient care, that is what we believe we are about. We must never be complacent and we would always want to improve."

One area the trust did well on was waiting times, which it had worked hard on cutting down for the past year. The cleanliness of both sites was also rewarded.

But staff morale was the key to earning the top rating, after management and staff had got together over the last few years to improve communication.

Mr Thomas said: "If you look at our efforts to improve cleanliness, develop the hospital buildings, open a new mental health unit and work at improving relations with staff, it all adds up to the result that we have received."

The trust had two areas where it was told it could do better, including recruiting consultants, after managing to recruit only 10 of the 40 consultants it will need in the next four years. Its new three star status could help attract more staff, although Mr Thomas said it was unlikely to do the same with extra patients.

"Trusts have done well all around us. I don't think this will result in patients coming to Blackburn. I think what it does assure the local population that we are providing a good service and that we are going to continue to provide it. 70 Seventy per cent of our patients come from the Blackburn area, so the local people are what is important to us."

Dill Eccleston, chair of Staffside, a health staff union, said: "The staff have been very dedicated here and that goes for everyone from the porters to the cleaning staff -- and we want to keep them."

He added: "Recruitment is hard in this area, but it is, in my experience, a good hospital to work for. We have worked really hard to improve morale among staff, bringing the sickness levels right down, by talking to them and management to find out what problems there are."

Morale will get an even bigger boost when the trust gets to spend its £236,000 reward for achieving three stars.

Staff will be given the chance to say how they think it should be spent and, if it is used wisely, the Government has promised a further £373,000 for Blackburn next year.

It could also be one of the trusts to try out a pilot staff bonus scheme -- likely to get a thumbs up from staff.

The trust's top performance has been felt by staff and patients alike. Debbie Hardie, from Blackburn, who was with three-day-old son Kyle in the maternity ward, said: "When the nurses are busy, they still have time for you and it has also been very clean here."

Clinical midwifery manager Janice Bufton, said listening to patients' comments was vital. "The women who come in here have the chance to give us feedback with our anonymous questionnaires and we try to change things they say they are not happy with. For instance, they told us they found visiting time too busy, and we have done something about that."

The next year may not be so plain sailing for the trust, as it plans to merge its two sites on to one in a multi-million pound privately funded scheme, which will see Blackburn Royal Infirmary close and Queen's Park Hospital site expand.

But Nigel Robinson, chief officer of Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Community Health Council, said: "I am very pleased that Blackburn got a three-star rating, but then again, that doesn't reflect targets met; it doesn't reflect the standards of care given to patients and that is a much more important thing in terms of gauging achievements of a trust."