SURGEONS in the Health Secretary's own local hospital trust are boycotting a radical Government-backed bid to slash waiting times.

Health bosses are spending more than £1m on sending hundreds of NHS patients from South Durham to the private Cleveland Nuffield Hospital, at Stockton.

But some NHS consultants have declined to assist the selection process because they object to the way the scheme has been handled.

Where consultants have stood aside, the patients have been selected by the three GPs who chair Primary Care Groups in South Durham.

Earlier this year, County Durham and Darlington Health Authority announced plans to spend £1m to speed up orthopaedic surgery in South Durham as part of Health Secretary Alan Milburn's strategy of using spare capacity in private hospitals.

At the end of September, 841 patients were waiting more than 13 weeks to be seen at the South Durham trust.

The action plan to carry out 261 orthopaedic procedures and up to 300 out-patient referrals was put together to reduce long waiting times.

Howard Rutherford, one of seven orthopaedic consultants working at South Durham Health Care NHS trust, said: "They have ridden rough-shod over a system which may not be perfect but at least the patient gets matched to a surgeon who is going to do the job that the GP wants."

Mr Rutherford, one of a consortium of North-East consultants who have put their own money into building a new private hospital in Darlington, said he was "hopping mad" at the way the scheme had been handled.

He said the deal was struck without putting the contract out to tender and without giving the South Durham consultants the chance to do any of the extra work privately.

Mr Rutherford said he was also concerned that the local link between GPs and consultants had been broken and the lack of follow-up arrangements after surgery.

"If the time comes that people come and ask us for favours, I am sorry, we are going to take a bit of a jaundiced view on things," said Mr Henderson, who said he had not been asked to get involved in the scheme.

A spokeswoman for South Durham Health Care NHS Trust, said: "The consultants were asked if they wanted to be involved in the process. Some indicated that, because the initiative was being managed externally, they would prefer the whole process to be handled outside the trust. Others are involved in the process.

"What is important is that patients are seen and treated quickly and appropriately."

A spokesman for the health authority said tendering rules were waived as the deal represented "excellent value for money"