This morning’s Lancashire Telegraph carries a SHOCK! HORROR! front page.

We are told that only that only half of staff working at Royal Blackburn and Burnley General Hospitals would be happy to have a friend or relative treated there.

Not good.

The information comes from a staff survey which was sent to 850 employees with 399 responding.

Shroud-waver-in-chief, Gordon Birtwistle, the Lib Dem leader of Burnley Council, described the findings as outrageous and terrible. This will be a red letter day for him.

So. What needs to be done?

If things are not as they should be, the clinicians, the nurses, and, indeed, all the other staff should speak out. If not as individuals then through their representative bodies. I have been saying this for years. The Royal College of Nursing, the medical trade unions and others have a duty to speak out if they have reservations about hospital practices or clinical standards.

Secondly, we need a totally new and vigorous organisation speaking up for patients and the public. The Community Health Councils were highly regarded. Perhaps that is why they were abolished.

We now have LINks.

Local Involvement Networks. Never heard of them? Join the club.