AN MP believes there are ‘significant problems’ within the emergency ward at Royal Blackburn Hospital, after the department was ranked in the bottom 10 in the country in recent survey scores.

The accident and emergency ward for East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust scored just 30 in the Friends and Family Test for October, which placed it 132nd out of 142 trusts.

The Lancashire Telegraph has been highlighting delays and missed targets within the department in recent weeks, with hundreds of patients facing waits of more than four hours and ambulances often ‘queued’ outside.

Graham Jones, Labour MP for Hyndburn, wrote on his blog: “Anyone with any experience could tell you that there is a significant problem. I have sat in A&E with my young daughter and experienced how hard the staff in triage work, but how overwhelmed they are.”

He fears the situation will worsen if the GP walk-in centre at Accrington Victoria Hospital was to close, which is still an option being considered by health commissioners.

He said the government should do more to ease NHS cuts in deprived areas such as East Lancashire, but believes ELHT’s management are also to blame.

The Friends and Family Test scores were first published in September, when ELHT’s emergency care performed slightly better, ranking 115th.

The methodology used to calculate the scores has proved controversial however. In the October figures just 44 out of 325 respondents said they were ‘unlikely’ or ‘extremely unlikely’ to recommend the service, but this was a higher proportion than most other trusts.

ELHT did not want to respond to Mr Jones’s comments, but director Val Bertenshaw said earlier this week: “We have one of the busiest emergency departments in the north west and Royal Blackburn Hospital is the busiest hospital for ambulance arrivals.

“The care and safety of our patients is our main priority and all staff work hard to ensure that patients are seen as quickly as possible.”