THOUSANDS of extra operations will be performed at Kidderminster Hospital as a result of the Darzi report.

The professor's verdict means the hospital will perform 2,500 more operations at the £13.9 million diagnostic treatment centre, due to open in 2003.

These will involve a wider range of common operations such as prostate, hysterectomies, gall bladder and orthopaedic. There will also be more eye, ear, nose and throat surgery - including operations on children.

Prof Darzi, chairman of surgery at Imperial College, also recommended up to 20 beds for short stay surgery cases - these patients will stay up to a maximum of 48 hours.

This is a minor U-turn from the closure of inpatient services and the loss of 192 beds when the hospital was downgraded last year.

Kidderminster's operating theatres will be upped from two to three in the shake-up, which the professor said resulted from the Government's NHS Plan calling for increased capacity.

He said higher severity cases could be dealt with at Kidderminster but only for patients with a minimal, clinical risk.

He also stated Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust needed clearer surgical leadership so staff develop the ethos of serving all Worcestershire patients. And he called for better transport between Kidderminster and hospitals in Worcester and Redditch.

At the report's launch health minister John Hutton said he would fast-track new procedures within 18 months.

However, Wyre Forest MP Dr Richard Taylor has already fired off a letter to the minister to urge some changes take place immediately.

Dr Taylor said: "Most of my letters concern people with prostate or joint replacement problems.

"While there is no provision for the latter, I don't see why those poor prostate patients have to wait 18 months for facilities at Kidderminster.

"Prof Darzi's idea is to make it a fast-track centre for minor inpatient surgery but we have to make sure staff and patients are prepared to come here. This will quicken up major surgery in the other hospitals."

The professor dubbed the standard of primary care in Wyre Forest "excellent" and the newly-formed Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust should lead to the development of "ground breaking" services at Kidderminster.

He described the current minor injuries unit and primary care centre at Kidderminster as "one of the most successful of its type".

And the completed diagnostic and treatment centre had the capability to become a national role-model with a minor injuries unit, outpatient services, low-risk maternity section, a renal dialysis and cancer treatment.