MEN in Wyre Forest are waiting longer than they should for prostate biopsies, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has admitted.

Action is now being taken to combat the problem, exacerbated by the absence of Kidderminster Hospital consultant radiologist, Dr Umesh Udeshi, after he was injured in the Boxing Day tsunami, but the trust has come under fire for not dealing with the delay earlier.

Former prostate cancer sufferer, Malcolm Cooper, raised the issue of no prostate biopsies being carried out at Kidderminster Hospital since before the tsunami, during a meeting of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust board, last Thursday.

On the same day, the trust released a statement, saying it recognised waiting times for the procedure were "unacceptable" and was putting in place a "short-term solution" which would see a consultant radiologist based elsewhere in the trust holding extra sessions in Kidderminster.

Although Mr Cooper, who is also vice-chairman of the Health Concern party, said he was " grateful" something was being done, he questioned whether it would have happened without his intervention.

This was dismissed by trust spokesman, Richard Haynes, however, who told the Shuttle/Times & News that discussions about finding another consultant to provide extra prostate biopsies in Kidderminster were underway before last week's board meeting.

The trust's latest figures revealed 57 patients were waiting for the procedure in Kidderminster at the end of January, when the maximum waiting time increased to 16 weeks. It had been 12 weeks at the end of December.

Mr Haynes said the trust realised last year it needed to increase the number of prostate biopsies carried out to reduce waiting times.

Trust chiefs had already started training a peri-operative specialist practitioner (PSP) to carry out the procedure before they faced a "completely separate issue" - the unexpected absence of a consultant injured in the Boxing Day tsunami, he said.

He added extra sessions to "bridge the gap" until Dr Udeshi returned would, hopefully, start tomorrow.

He said Dr Udeshi had been training the PSP up until his absence and he hoped the Trust could make up for lost time when he returned to work.