A ROW has erupted after Wyre Forest MP David Lock claimed waiting times were down for Wyre Forest patients.

He made the claim after a visit to Castle Street Hospital, Worcester.

The MP said staff were delivering superb care in difficult conditions.

He also said the hospital was clean, patients well cared for and staff motivated after a visit to the 19th Century building.

But his assertion operation waiting times were down for Wyre Forest patients, sparked fury among campaigners seeking to restore services to Kidderminster Hospital.

Thousands of Wyre Forest patients now have to travel to Redditch and Worcester since the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital in September.

Mr Lock, who cites medical argument for the changes, said Kidderminster patients were disappointed medical factors meant they had to be at Castle Street instead of Kidderminster.

But the good news was county waiting times had dropped and were lower than last year.

He said: "This is good news because it means more local patients are being treated and those waiting for treatment are not spending so long on the list.

"It looks as if the trust has really turned the waiting time corner."

However, Health Concern prospective parliamentary candidate Dr Richard Taylor told the MP to get his facts right.

Dr Taylor, who maintains the downgrading of Kidderminster was made for financial reasons, said there had been little change since shocking figures showed Wyre Forest people were being kept on waiting lists at the expense of Worcester and Redditch folk.

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 Redditch and Worcester last April.

Dr Taylor said: "Has Mr Lock actually checked the waiting lists? They may have gone down across the county but across Wyre Forest it is still as bad.

"As for the hospital staff, of course they are dedicated. The tragedy is they have been forced to work in Worcester under difficult conditions instead of at their award-winning Kidderminster Hospital."

Wyre Forest General Practitioners Association chairman Dr Jim Goodman confirmed county waiting lists were falling but felt most of the reduction was outside Wyre Forest.

Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust could not confirm the latest waiting list figures.