HEALTH chiefs have been rapped by inspectors who found that nurses were being saddled with office jobs.

The Healthcare Commission, an independent inspection agency, uncovered the problems facing nurses in the endoscopy units at Burnley General Hospital and the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

During an endoscopy a tube is placed down the patient's throat to examine the bowels and stomach.

But the healthcare commission found that instead of carrying out such tests, nurses were being saddled with clerical duties due to a shortage of back-office staff.

As a result the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, was given the bottom assessment rating for the efficiency of the service.

Now the trust has drawn up an action plan in a bid to kick-start an improvement.

Lynn Wissett, director of clinical care and governance, said nurses were not being allowed to focus on their job because there were not enough backroom staff.

She added: "Where the score could be improved is in the area of staff productivity. This is related to the relatively low numbers of administrative/clerical staff in the endoscopy department which means that the nurse endoscopists are currently carrying out some clerical duties as well.

"We are currently developing an action plan in response to these findings."

The trust was given one out of five - the lowest score - for the "efficient use of facilities and staff". This was determined by unused endoscopy sessions.

Yet the problems do not appear to be affecting the waiting times, where the trust was given the top rating.

All the trust's examination services were assessed and scored. All imaging services such as MRI and CT scanners were rated three out of five, yet the pathology service came in for criticism.

The pathology department is sent blood and tissue samples for it to analyse so it can tell doctors what a patient is suffering from.

The trust scored two out of five for the time it takes to get the blood and send it back.

Mrs Wissett said: "The trust welcomes these results and feels that they are a fair assessment.

"We will be using the results to identify where the trust is performing well and also to develop action plans."