WAITING times for outpatient appointments and orthopaedic treatment at the Alexandra Hospital and others in the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust have been cut, it was announced last week.

There is now no-one waiting for more than 13 weeks for an outpatient appointment. In April 2003, there were more than 1,300 and last year, nearly 800.

No-one is waiting more than six months for orthopaedic treatment, down from nearly 1,000 people in 2003 and more than 500 a year ago.

Across all specialities in all three acute hospitals in the trust, only 66 people waited more than six months - down from 2,200 in 2003 and more than 1,500 a year ago.

A trust spokesman said: "We're delighted to have reached these targets so early on in the year but we cannot afford to be complacent and must continue striving to meet increasingly difficult targets.

"The reduction in waiting times is a tribute to staff who have worked so hard to treat patients."