ALL patients who used Blackburn Royal Infirmary or Queen's Park Hospital last month are being given the chance to take part in a huge survey.

Questionnaires are being sent out in the post to seek the views of the 2,500 people who were either inpatients, outpatients or used the accident and emergency department in January.

It is one of the biggest surveys Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Health Care Trust has ever carried out and health chiefs hope to build a picture of which areas are performing well and where services could be improved.

John Dell, acting chief executive of the trust, said: "The surveys are designed both to provide structured patient feedback which can be used to identify areas for improvement and to become part of the performance indicators used in the 'star ratings' process.

"They cover a wide range of issues ranging from how long patients had to wait at different stages of treatment through to the clarity of explanations given by staff."

Other issues include the quality and co-ordination of care, how much dignity and privacy the patients were given, and how clean and accessible facilities were.

The results are expected to be available by the end of March and will be reported to the trust's board.

An inpatient survey was held last January but this year outpatients and casualty patients are being including for the first time.

The surveys are a requirement of the independent health watchdog the Commission for Health Improvement which carries out inspections of NHS organisations.

CHI published results of its last survey in August 2002 and praised the trust for its overall quality of care.

It was particularly praised for its inclusiveness -- the way it involved patients, carers and the local community in running its services.

One example, was the trust's apprentice scheme to recruit local people which takes on large numbers from ethnic minorities and half of those who attended went on to attend professional training. Another major strength was its good education and training opportunities.

Areas for concern included the trust's computer network which needed updating and work done on preventing risks to staff and patients.