EAST Lancashire NHS trusts have been given a clean bill of health by the Healthcare Commission, a new report reveals today.

The health organisations were assessed in terms of quality of service (QoS) and use of resources (UoS).

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust was rated as fair on both accounts, as was Blackburn with Darwen Primary Care Trust (PCT), East Lancs PCT and the North West Ambulance Service.

Whalley's Calderstones NHS Trust was rated as fair for QoS and good for UoS, and Lancashire Care NHS Trust received the same rating.

Overall, the assessment of NHS performance in the North West shows that nearly 10 per cent of organisations rated excellent' for quality of services compared with six per cent last year, while the number rated as weak had almost halved to 4.8 per cent compared with 8.3 per cent in 2005/2006.

Chief executive of NHS North West Mike Farrar said: "These improved ratings are a reflection of the dedication and hard work of staff and are particularly pleasing because they have been achieved against a background of change.

"Many of our primary care trusts have been dealing with major re-organisation in the past year, while hospitals have been preparing for achieving foundation trust status."