THE waiting list crisis for Wyre Forest patients has been curtailed.

The list has fallen by 250 since shocking figures in November revealed district folk were being kept waiting at the expense of those at Redditch and Worcester.

It vindicates David Lock's assertion Wyre Forest waiting times had fallen.

The Wyre Forest MP came under fire last week for stating waiting times had dropped for district patients.

Health Concern prospective parliamentary candidate Dr Richard Taylor had claimed there had been little change since November.

However, Worcestershire Health Authority confirmed county and district figures this week.

They show 1,550 Wyre Forest people on the list at the end of February compared to 1,800 in October.

The county figure has fallen from 10,800 to 9,400.

Mr Lock said: "It has been a difficult year and I was very critical of the health authority when the figures went up.

"However, this is a step in the right direction. We are treating more patients and the waiting lists are going down.

"Much of this is due to Government money for nursing home beds, which has moved people out of hospital."

He was disappointed Dr Taylor did not find out the Wyre Forest figure from the county times released last month before he attacked the MP.

Waiting lists have been a controversial issue since Kidderminster Hospital was downgraded in September.

The November figures showed Wyre Forest waiting lists, which trounced the rest of the county the previous year, had rocketed since Kidderminster NHS Trust merged with Reddish and Worcester.

Health authority finance and commissioning director Mike Ridley said: "These are very welcome figures - better than expected. It is very good news because in the winter period waiting list figures can edge up.

"Credit must go all round for these results. However, we now need to maintain them."

However, he could not confirm the cost of bringing the waiting list figures down and specify in which areas.

Consultants have been brought in, some being paid up to £1,500 for four hours weekend work, to shift the backlog.

Mr Ridley said: "It is difficult to identify the cost because it is part of our £120 million investment in the acute trust at the start of the year."

Dr Taylor said: "I can understand the waiting list coming down since November but the question is have they come down since last March, before the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital?"

Wyre Forest General Practitioners Association chairman Dr Jim Goodman applauded the reduction and said it must continue.

However, he too was keen to find out the comparison with last March and in which areas lists had fallen.

He said: "I suspect when compared to last March there might not be a demonstrable fall.

"I would also like to know what operations are being done - if it is major operations such as hip replacements or minor ones where I could understand why they could bring it down because they don't have to make major arrangements."