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Deaths from non-emergency admissions fell from 90 in 1997/98 to 52 in 1998/99 - a drop of almost 40 per cent. For emergency admissions the fall from 204 deaths to 134 was a drop of 35 per cent.

Phil Randall, North Manchester Healthcare Trust's medical director, welcomed the fall revealed in the government's performance indicators .

But Mr Randall warned further improvements would depend on better health in the population generally and relied on people seeking help sooner.

He said: "The trust has carried out an in-depth audit of more than half of the 186 deaths which revealed 98 per cent had at least one other serious health problem on admission.

"Half had known cardiac problems and a quarter had known respiratory problems. One in 10 had both cardiac and respiratory problems and 42 had cancer.

"One of my major concerns is the number of patients who come for treatment at a very late stage, both as emergencies and non emergencies.

"The audit has shown some patients wait far too long before seeking treatment."