NHS officials say there have been substantial improvements in the length of time patients from County Durham have to wait for treatment.

Since April last year, the maximum waiting limit for inpatient treatments, such as operations, has been nine months.

County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes hospitals in Darlington, Durham and Bishop Auckland, says it now has no patients who have been waiting that long.

The vast majority of patients can now expect a far shorter wait, it says.

As of last Friday, only one in 50 patients on the waiting list had waited longer than six months.

This is well ahead of the target set by the Government.

The trust now has no patients who have been waiting more than three months for cataract treatment, a large improvement over the past 12 months.

In addition, no patients have been waiting for their outpatient appointment for more than 17 weeks. As of April 1, 99 out of 100 are being seen within 13 weeks. Again, this is well ahead of Government targets.

Trust chief executive John Saxby said: "Waiting times have fallen substantially over the past year, thanks to the hard work of our staff.

"We are determined to minimise the length of time that patients have to wait for high quality healthcare at our hospitals, and intend to deliver further improvements next year."