THE emergency and urgent care services in Pennine Lancashire missed a key waiting target in the first three months of the year, but performed better than many parts of England.

Amid another increase in patients on last year, more than 3,000 cases breached the four-hour waiting standard at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) within the period This meant 93 per cent of patients were treated on time, against the 95 per cent target, across the Royal Blackburn Hospital and the urgent care centres in Burnley, Rossendale and Accrington.

The trust has struggled to meet the target for many years, often reporting some of the worst figures in the region. But while other trusts have fallen back, ELHT has improved since the start of last year, when it was in special measures.

Its recent performance was better than more than half of trusts in the North of England, and compared favourably with the national average of 92 per cent.

Separate figures showed Blackburn's emergency department dealt with just 89 per cent of patients within four hours, although this was also better than the national average for similar units.

The department had 25,956 attendances in the three months, up from 25,552 during the same period last year.

Gillian Simpson, director of operations at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Our emergency department and urgent care centres work hard to ensure all patients who need emergency treatment receive safe, personal and effective care in a timely manner.

"We have highly qualified, dedicated staff working in our A&E, Urgent Care Centres and Minor Injuries Units. They work extremely hard in treating hundreds of patients every day, very often in difficult and testing circumstances.

"However, even after the winter months we continue to experience considerable pressures due to the numbers of people attending A&E. As an example, on Easter Monday 620 people attended our services.

"We would ask the public to help us to help them and only visit A&E for emergency medical treatment. If they need medical help but it isn’t an emergency, call 111 (NHS helpline) which provides advice about symptoms and where to go for treatment."

Russ McLean, chair of the Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group, said: "The trust has come a long way in the last few months and although I am disappointed about missed targets, I feel positive that the staff who work in A&E continue to give 110 per cent, particularly as we come through the busiest time of the year."