Midlands hospitals meet waiting list targets

Fewer patients are having to wait more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment compared with two years ago, according to figures out today.

The latest data shows the number of patients from across the country waiting longer than 18 weeks was 160,052 at the end of March – 49,359 less than in May 2010.

However, Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust saw a total of 82.7 per cent of its patients waiting less than 18 weeks – below the standard of 92 per cent, which was set by the NHS.

Maggie Oldham, chief operating officer at the trust, said: "We apologise to patients who are experiencing delays in their treatment. The 18-week performance referral to treatment target is still a significant concern for the trust in terms of the number of patients who are waiting."

All other NHS hospital trusts in the area, including Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley, and Sandwell and West Birmingham, met the standard set, according to the Department of Health.

The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust saw 95.5 per cent of all its patients waiting less than 18 weeks. While Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust achieved 94.1 per cent.

At Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, the figure was 97.3 per cent and at Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust it was 97.3 per cent.

Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, said today: "We set down a challenge to the NHS to bring down the number of patients waiting the longest and finally tackle the legacy of a target that allowed hospitals to leave patients languishing on waiting lists once they had already been there for 18 weeks.

"More people than ever are being treated by the NHS which makes reducing the number of people waiting longer than 18 weeks to start treatment to a record low a great achievementI am challenging the rest of the NHS to do as well as the best." Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was unavailable to comment.

By Laura Blyth