Battle to meet hospital target

The scale of the challenge to cut hospital waiting lists is revealed today.

It leaves hospital bosses facing a massive battle to meet a pledge to eliminate waits of more than 18 weeks for all operations.

Today Health Secretary John Reid insisted the new target could be met by 2008. New figures show that dramatic progress has already been made - with patients in London benefiting-from huge falls in waitingtimes. But experts warn that huge resources will be needed to meet the new pledge.

Under the Government's plans - announced today - patients who need operations will wait no more than 18 weeks from the time they see their GP to the time they have surgery. Officials do not currently record the length of time patients wait from seeing their family doctor to having their operation. However, latest figures reveal that across the UK, 240,050 patients currently wait between three to five months for their operations

after a specialist decides they need surgery. A further 78,165 wait more than six months.

It means at least 318,215 patients fall outside the Government's new target - a third of the total waiting list.

The real number is likely to be higher because of waits just to see a specialist. Most patients wait about seven weeks for such an appointment.

Simon Williams, of the Patients' Association, said: "The Government is doing brilliantly on waiting lists but thousands of patients are still waiting far too long."

In London, 23,130 patients have been waiting from three to five months for operations, while 7,715 have been waiting for more than six months. That is a dramatic fall since last year - when almost 19,000 patients in the capital waited more than six months.

However, there are massive differences in waiting times from one Primary Care Trust region to another. The area with the longest waiting lists is Barnet - where 677 patients have been waiting more than six months for treatment. By contrast, only 112 patients in North Surrey have been waiting that long - 728 fewer than last year.

The worst backlogs are for orthopaedic operations such as hip and knee replacements. Across all areas, there are long waits for heart surgery; abdominal surgery; ear, nose and throat surgery and gynaecological procedures.