End in sight for waiting lists over one year - health chiefs

Four of the county's five acute hospitals had no one waiting for longer than 12 months by the end of October.

And in York, where there were still 56 people waiting for more than a year at the end of October, the district hospital has pledged that it will achieve its target of no one waiting for longer than 12-months, by the end of November.

Members of North Yorkshire Health Authority will be told on Monday that millions of pounds have been allocated to tackle waiting list issues.

More than £2.6m will be used to help combat long waiting times, while £2m has been committed to easing problems with delayed discharges.

About £350,000 has been allocated to reduce the number of cancelled operations and waiting times on trolleys in Harrogate and York hospitals.

The authority's chief executive, Barrie Fisher, said: "This is very welcome news. Having to wait a long time for treatment is one of the chief concerns of patients.

"Hospitals and primary care trusts (PCTs) share the responsibility of ensuring that patients receive the services they need.

"It is very important that North Yorkshire hospitals and local PCTs make sure this achievement is maintained. Considerable extra resources have been made available and the authority will be closely monitoring the performance of hospitals and PCTs over the coming months."

He said: "This is a very significant injection of extra resources and we expect that the hospitals, supported by PCTs playing their part, will be able to achieve the targets."

However, Mr Fisher confirmed that the number of people waiting for a first out-patient appointment was growing. The main problem areas were at hospitals in Northallerton and York.

He said: "We will be working with the trusts involved to ensure there is a satisfactory plan in place to achieve the target by the end of the year of no one waiting more than 12 weeks for a first out-patient appointment.