HOSPITAL chiefs have accused the doctor of causing “unnecessary public concern” by speaking out publicly.

Dr Geraint Jones, medical director at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, also defended the treatment being given to patients at the Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital.

He said an average of 20 beds had been available each morning in the last week - enough for both emergency and planned intakes.

The trust, which runs both hospitals, was meeting the 98 per cent target for correct notes to be delivered, and that the one in 50 cases where notes are missing were always investigated, as part of work to bring performance up to 100 per cent accuracy, Dr Jones said.

Dr Jones said that although the emergency department and urgent care centres were busy, 98 per cent of people were treated within the four-hour target, and ambulance journey response times - the times taken for paramedics to reach patients - were above national standards.

He said the national Deep Clean programme had given a base for better cleaning procedures, and that the hospitals were consistently within national cleanliness targets.

He said: “I am extremely concerned that a member of our trust’s medical team has contacted you without first raising these concerns directly through our internal escalation procedures.

“Actions like this can cause unnecessary public concern and also upset many staff members who are working to the highest standards.

“Every Hospital, no matter how big or small, will be subjected to challenges that will occur at intervals. We are no exception to this and we know that we do have areas that do need to improve which we are concentrating on to bring about the necessary changes.

“We act on every complaint we receive, whether from users of our service or our own staff, to ensure that our organisation continually improves, as indeed it is doing. This is a building block for us so that we continue always to increase satisfaction levels for our patients.

“It is disappointing to think that a member of our staff chose not to share their concerns directly with us.”