MORE staff are needed to cut waiting lists and improve care for patients, according to staff at an East Lancashire hospital.

Staff, patients and visitors at hospitals and health centres were asked for their ideas for the future of the NHS as part of a nationwide Census Day.

Everyone was asked to fill in leaflets with their top three tips for a better NHS, and nurses at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn, agreed extra staff were the top of the list.

Nurse Sharon Burridge, of Clitheroe, and auxiliary nurse Pamela Murphy, of Darwen, said most wards were so short-staffed that nurses didn't have the time to sit and talk to patients.

Sharon said: "You find out more about a patient by taking time to talk to them and find out about their problems. It's all part of making patients better." Sister Helen Jackson, of Blackburn, said patients be better served if more support services, such as X-rays, were available for non-emergencies during weekends and holidays.

She said: "Often patients may wait in hospital for three days over bank holiday weekends for a scan."

And Sister Jayne Jackson, of Oswaldtwistle, said nurses also ended up wasting time trying to contact social workers, and a better system was needed.

Patient Sharonrose Allison, 24, of Accrington, went to Queen's Park Hospital for a planned birth and said she would like staff to be paid more to attract more people to work for the NHS and cut waiting times.

She said: "The staff here are very jolly and smiley, I feel content coming here. But waiting lists are too long -- they need more staff to cover them all."

Business development manager Chris Allen, of Burnley NHS Trust said 4,500 leaflets had been given out. She said: "Every in-patient in all of our premises was also given a leaflet and we tried very hard to make sure every member of the public was able to get a form."

Picture: Student midwife Nadia Ahmed and care apprentice Khaziman Asraf with, back, from the left, midwife Helen Johnston, student midwife Sarah Hill and midwives Jane Critchley, Pam Prendergast and Sarah Delaney with the questionnaire at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn.