A HEALTH watchdog has called for urgent action to be taken by Alexandra Hospital chiefs after a string of complaints from patients visiting the outpatient department.

Members of Redditch and Bromsgrove Community Health Council have visited the hospital after concerns about long queues in the outpatient clinics.

And CHC members have put the problem down to a new computer system which has just been introduced.

Chief officer Moira Morris said: "They have put in this new computer system which is causing long queues in the outpatient clinics because the staff are having to fill out more data on the screens."

Mrs Morris said the staff had been trained to use the new system and they were not to blame for the long queues and waiting times.

She said: "The staff are really looking fraught. It's not that they don't know how to use the system but it is taking so long to input all the data. It is frustrating for patients."

CHC members have asked Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Alexandra, to come up with a solution.

Mrs Morris said ever since the new system was introduced, the problem had become apparent and it was not suitable for patients, who were not feeling unwell, to be kept standing up in a queue for a long time.

Hospital Unison spokeswoman Nina Wood-Ford said: "We have had a couple of extra monitors but the thing is if they take on extra people, they'll still have to be trained.

''It all takes time. It might ease the situation but it won't solve the problem."

Mrs Wood-Ford said strike action would be an option if the situation was not eased.

A trust spokesman said: "We have recently introduced a unified computer system across the trust for patient administration functions such as appointments and letters.

''There were more teething troubles than we anticipated. However, as these are resolved and the system becomes more familiar to staff, we expect to be able to provide an improved service to patients."