SHOCKING figures provided by Worcestershire Health Authority which revealed Wyre Forest patients are being kept on waiting lists at the expense of Worcester and Redditch folk, are now being disputed by its leaders.

The authority has launched a bitter attack on the Shuttle/Times & News, claiming last week's story detailing the statistics was "inaccurate and misleading", but it has failed to provide evidence to back this up.

The authority only disputes one set of figures - for the period from April to July this year - which showed an 81.8 per cent rise for those waiting more than 12 months on the inpatient and day case waiting list in Wyre Forest.

It claims there was only a 20 per cent rise.

The figures were among a set which showed Wyre Forest waiting lists, which trounced the rest of the county last year, have rocketed since Kidderminster NHS Trust merged with Worcester and Redditch in April.

MP David Lock, Save Kidderminster Hospital Campaign chairman Dr Richard Taylor and Wyre Forest General Practitioners Association chairman Dr Jim Goodman were united in dubbing the figures a disgrace.

WHA chief executive Pat Archer-Jones said one set of figures, submitted to Wyre Forest Primary Care Group, was incorrect due to an error in downloading from the central database.

She said: "It appears that the story concentrated on these particular figures to sensationalise it and cause ill-founded consternation among the public from people with reasons of their own to discredit the health service in Worcestershire."

She added: "Clearly I take any increase in waiting lists seriously. I am involved in in-depth discussions with Worcester-shire Acute Trust and other providers outside the county with a view to reducing the waiting times by the end of March next year.

"It is fair to say that the Wyre Forest PCG has, in fact, one of the shortest waiting lists overall in the county."

Wyre Forest PCG chief officer John Gregory said the group had taken the figures from the health authority in good faith.

He had been trying to make contact with the authority to check its points but had not received a reply.

Dr Goodman welcomed Mrs Archer-Jones's commitment to reducing the waiting times.

He said: "Whilst the health authority claims there is a small discrepancy in the figures, the most important information for local GPs is not so much the absolute figures but the trends - in other words are the lists rising or falling!

"The GPA will want to continue to work with the PCG and health authority to monitor the waiting lists to ensure they do not continue to rise."