ONE in every 19 people who undergo emergency operations in Burnley, die within a month of treatment -- far more than both the national or East Lancashire averages, according to latest government figures.

Patients are also more likely to die following treatment for heart attacks and hip fractures in Burnley than in the Blackburn district or England as a whole, the performance indicators show.

But it is the high ratio of people failing to survive emergency surgery which has caused specific concern.

Now Burnley Health Trust chiefs have ordered a far-reaching review into why 133 people died following treatment in Burnley, when the figure for Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley was just 80, with an all-England average of 97.

They are asking clinical directors to look in detail at all the fatalities in the search for an answer.

The figures -- in what is the first what will become annual national studies -- come despite increased staffing levels in Burnley's emergency areas including more consultants, nurses and theatre nurses.

East Lancashire Health Authority director of public health Dr Stephen Morton reckons that higher than average hospital death rates are down to the bad general health of local people, due to poor housing and diet and high levels of smoking. He said: "When people have chest and heart diseases, they are more likely to get complications during surgery.

"Elderly people in East Lancashire are more likely to have lung and heart diseases, but if they come in with a hip fracture there is no choice but to operate quickly." But that does not explain why Burnley's post-emergency ops deaths should appear so much higher than those of its immediate neighbour.

Burnley Trust's finance director David Meakin is quick to point out that, excluding Blackburn, many North West Trusts have figures in line with those in Burnley -- indicating that social and economic factors could indeed be the key.

"There are many factors which could affect outcomes, but probably the most significant is the underlying health of the locality."

Mr Meakin says the comparatively small numbers of deaths involved could give a distorted and apparently alarming impression when worked up to a ratio per 100,000 patients, as was displayed in the official statistics. Small variations on low figures could also distort the true picture.

He believed the indicators would give a more accurate indication of there true position when viewed on a five-year basis, which would iron out the year to year blips.

Mr Meakin added: "That said, we are taking the issue seriously and looking to see if there are underlying reasons for the high figure following emergency treatment."

He added although heart attack and hip fracture fatalities after hospital treatment were higher in Burnley than the national average, the figures were within government-set acceptability levels.

The indicators also show that survival in Burnley following non-emergency surgery was far better than in either Blackburn or nationally.