HEALTH bosses have been praised for the way they responded to a crisis list, including bomb alerts, chemical spills, and the airborne ash cloud that grounded thousands of flights.

An emergency planning review for Lancashire has been published for the last year, revealing how a string of incidents affected the county.

The operation is led by Dr Sohail Bhatti, acting director of public health for East Lancashire PCT, which has responsibility for the whole county.

East Lancashire hospitals were ‘inundated’ during the winter months, the report said, with an increase in flu cases and patients with respiratory problems, while some wards had to be closed because of a winter vomiting outbreak.

“No hospital entered crisis level, but East Lancashire Hospitals did experience significant problems,” it said.

The ash cloud that hovered over the UK last spring also caused problems for Lancashire’s health services.

Vital equipment, especially pharmaceutical and laboratory items, could not be delivered, and some medics were stranded abroad during the holidays.

The team was also put on standby when gunman Derrick Bird went on the rampage in Cumbria in June, while action was also taken to prepare for flooding after heavy rain in July.

Another emergency came in August, when nine terraced houses in Burnley caught fire following a gas leak.

There was also a bomb alert at Burnley General Hospital in October, declared a hoax after a police search, and a chemical spillage at a Clitheroe factory in February.

A report by consultant Dr Anthony Sudell praised the work of Dr Bhatti, and his colleagues, and said: “All of these colleagues have demonstrated a high degree of skill and professionalism, and the achievements recorded in this report would not have been possible without their commitment.”

Looking forward to the next year, he said: “We hope that there will be no major untoward incident in Lancashire.

“However, we believe that the NHS in Lancashire is resilient enough to face any incident that may occur.”