EAST Lancashire Hospitals recorded a near perfect patient waiting time at the end of last month.

Latest figures revealed that 98.9 per cent of the 2,667 patients who attended Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital’s emergency departments in the week ending January 30 were seen within four hours.

The NHS target is 95 per cent.

The achievement follows rates of 98.7 and 97.3 per cent for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in the two weeks before.