MORE patients in South Worcestershire are waiting longer than six months for surgery than anywhere else in our region - with some people having to wait up to 12 months.

The news was revealed during a board meeting of the South Worcestershire Primary Care Trust, yesterday.

The SWPCT's waiting list performance is worse than any of the other seven trusts in the West Midlands South Strategic Health Authority.

This region includes Redditch and Bromsgrove, Coventry, Herefordshire, North Warwickshire, South Warwickshire, Rugby, and the Wyre Forest.

No figures were available, but David Moon, director of finance and information at the SWPTC, said the trust was doing all it could to rectify the situation.

He added: "We are actively working with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which is our main service provider, to continually reduce waiting times and we are confident that this can be achieved."

He blamed the long waits on the increasing number of orthopaedic patients.

Mr Moon added: "The major pressure point, as with nearly all PCTs and trusts across the country is in orthopaedics and we have taken steps to improve available capacity in this speciality to improve this situation."

Yesterday, the Evening News reported how these "steps" had infuriated county MP, Richard Taylor.

The SWPCT announced that GP practices in Evesham, Pershore, Broadway and Bredon will be referring their orthopaedic patients to Cheltenham General and Evesham Community Hospital.

The changes, which came into effect yesterday, will see orthopaedic patients in Worcestershire having to travel to Gloucestershire to receive treatment.

Trauma and emergency patients will still be treated by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust.

But Wyre Forest MP Richard Taylor, who is also chairman of Health Concern, the campaign to restore emergency health care facilities at Kidderminster Hospital, said the news was "extremely shocking" and predicted the elderly would suffer the most.