PATIENTS trying to phone Worcester's new £95m hospital are kept hanging on for hours because an administrative blunder has left the switchboard swamped with calls.

Pat Merrick, vice-chairman of Worcester and District Community Health Council, warned members she had spent two hours trying to get through.

She believed the problem stemmed from new information leaflets, which had only included the main number and not individual clinics.

This, she said, meant the switchboard was overloaded with calls that should be dealt with directly by the clinics.

"It was only pure determination which meant I finally got through," she said. "The number just rang and rang. It took me two hours to get through.

"I asked Malvern hospital for the direct number I wanted, but they told me it couldn't be confirmed.

"I suggest the numbers for all the clinics are broadcast on local radio and advertised in local papers as soon as possible."

Appointments

Mrs Merrick said she was worried that people who were trying, like her, to cancel appointments, would not be able to.

"We're told staff time is being wasted because people don't keep appointments, but how can people cancel them if they can't get through," she said.

John Summers, PFI project co-ordinator for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, accepted numbers for different clinics had not been made clear, but said 1,000 new direct lines were due to be installed.

"Some of the numbers in use prior to the move are still in use, and that's not been made as clear as it could be," he said.

"And I take the point about properly advertising extension numbers."

Councillor Geoff Carpenter, who also sits on the CHC, demanded action.

"This is fundamental," he said.

"There's no point having good clinical arrangements if you can't get through."