DOCTORS have been warned not to cancel operations in new guidance from hospital chiefs after the trust missed its target.

Cancellations of planned surgery at the Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital hit 1.4 per cent last month - almost twice the national maximum target of 0.8 per cent.

Trust directors also admitted under-performance and breaches of waiting time targets in many departments.

Campaigners behind the Liberal Democrats' controversial dossier of complaints against the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said the latest figures supported their document's claims.

But in her latest report to the Hospitals Trust board, director of clinical care and governance Lyn Wissett said new reporting structures had been brought in to "reinforce the message" that last-minute cancellations for non-medical reasons were "unacceptable".

Extra monitoring is also being introduced to find the root causes of the cancellations, while strategic experts are researching ways to stretch capacity in theatres and wards.

The trust is meeting targets for elective surgery as a whole, but Mrs Wissett said overperformance in some areas had masked failings in others, including orthopaedics, gynaecology, pain management and dermatology, meaning more consultants had to be recruited. It is also meeting 18-week treatment time targets, but missed important milestones on the way there for some patients, including the six-week target for diagnosis and the 11-week target for outpatient appointments.

New performance indicators set to be introduced by the Healthcare Commission could spell more trouble as they will focus more on patients' opinions than figures.

Burnley Council leader Gordon Birtwistle said: "This is more proof of what we have been saying all along."

But Gary Graham, acting chief executive at the hospitals trust, said the dossier had not yet been investigated.