OUR hospitals have had a good pasting this week. Barely has the word NHS been uttered without being swiftly followed by "blunder", "debt-ridden" or "black hole".

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has been "slammed" and "blasted" by MPs, disgruntled doctors and local councillors so many times it could give Hulk Hogan a run for his money.

We heard how skincare patients at Burnley will have to wait longer for treatment; how 15,000 homes in Barnoldswick and Earby didn't receive a crucial consultation questionnaire about hospital changes; and how 180 hospital beds are to be axed by August.

Heck, the trust couldn't do right for doing wrong.

A new system designed to give patients better choice of appointments failed spectacularly as many elderly got "lost" in the system, so we were told.

And we haven't even touched on the MRSA hot potato.

I admit all this is hardly great news.

Much needs to be done to balance the books and create a smooth-running system. But it's the doctors and nurses I feel for.

They save lives and work long hours for low pay only to be faced with a constant barrage of abuse.

Isn't it time we gave them a break and a well-deserved pat on the back?

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust admits there have been problems but is doing its best to fix them.

Some would argue the answer is to divvy up the pot of cash and become NHS tourists if and when we need medical help.

You've got to ask yourself if some people deserve decent hospitals anyway.

One flicker of sunshine and every trackie bottom-wearing skin-headed man under the age of 40 suddenly feels obliged to strip off, exposing acres of pasty flabby flesh.

And what really got my blood boiling was seeing a heavily pregnant red-haired woman wearing a cropped T-shirt, sunburnt red-raw bump on display, smoking a fag.

Anyone who has a relative sick in hospital or on a waiting list for a vital operation must have wanted to throttle her.

It's frustrating that people like this take up space and resources desperately needed by those with proper health needs.

If our hospitals are ever going to get on track, we could all do without people smoking themselves into early graves or putting themselves and their children at danger through vanity, ignorance or plain stupidity.