NHS patients are being treated at the town's private hospital in a bid to slash waiting lists.

Worcestershire Hospitals Acute NHS Trust is paying for sick residents to undergo major operations at Droitwich Spa Hospital, in St Andrew's Road.

The hospital's executive director, Michael Scott, said the NHS selects patients for private care, a fee is arranged and an invoice is sent to the trust.

Two initiatives have been running for a year, covering 30 patients requiring orthopaedic and general surgery.

Hernias to total hip replaceme nts are among the operations taking place and NHS referrals now make up seven per cent of patients.

Mr Scott said NHS operations take place within the day-to-day theatre lists and the surgeon who would have carried out the procedure at a state hospital usually operates.

The busy hospital is preparing to build its third operating theatre and open ten more beds next year.

A trust spokeswoman confirmed it was "working collaboratively with local private hospitals, including Droitwich Spa Hospital."

She added that private services are being used to increase the capacity for treatment of patients and reduce the waiting list times to achieve the Government target of no patients waiting more than 15 months for an operation.

Worcester and District Community Health Council chairman Glen Green thinks the initiative is wonderful.

She said: "My first priority is that patients are receiving a safe, monitored service by well-qualified staff.

"People are going to be surprised but the money is not going into bricks and mortar -- it's going to patient care and that's what counts."

Droitwich Spa's Tory MP, Peter Luff, told the Advertiser: "I'm glad Droitwich Spa Hospital is taking part in this initiative. What matters is that patients get treated and get better.

"However, it's sad that more and more people are actually choosing to pay for care because waiting for NHS treatment can take so long."