THE quality of services at East Lancashire’s hospitals has slumped from a top ‘excellent’ four-star rating to a ‘fair’ two-star grade in the past year.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has today published annual performance ratings for every NHS trust in England.

And the health watchdog’s assessment has also revealed that East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust’s financial management has only been rated as ‘fair’, despite the trust achieving a ‘good’ score in 2007-08.

The trust, which runs the Royal Blackburn Hospital, Burnley General Hospital, Pendle Community Hospital and Rossendale Hospital, gained full marks from the authority for its safety and cleanliness, dignity and respect for patients and keeping the public healthy.

It also scored seven out of eight for its standard of care and 17 out of 18 for management.

However, it said ‘well-documented challenges’ in reducing patient waiting times and delivering financial balance meant its overall scores were reduced.

Lynn Wissett, deputy chief executive, said: “While we are disappointed our overall scores have fallen this year, I am very pleased that our dedication to the core standards of patient safety and dignity has been recognised.

“The new score has not come as a surprise to us.

“We are already working hard to address the areas identified as needing improvement.”

Each of the 392 NHS trusts in England received a rating on a four-point scale categorising their service as either weak, fair, good or excellent.

The rating was in two parts, one for quality and the other for fina-ncial management.

The trust’s downturn in fortune was largely reflected across the north west, with 23 of 63 trusts receiving a lower score than last year.

Meanwhile, East Lancashire NHS Trust celebrated, as the primary care services provider notched ‘good’ and ‘fair’ ratings, having last year been ranked as ‘fair’ last year.

However, Blackburn with Darwen NHS Trust recorded a ‘fair’ and ‘good’ score in the two categories, after achieving two ‘good’ ratings last year.

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust was rated ‘good’ and ‘excellent’, a slight drop on its previous double ‘excellent’ accreditation, while Calderstones NHS Trust maintained an ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ score.

Meanwhile Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, was given two ‘good’ scores after a ‘good’ and ‘excellent’ performance previously.