SHOCKING figures have revealed it will be a bleak winter for hundreds of pain-ridden Wyre Forest patients who are being kept on waiting lists at the expense of Worcester and Redditch folk.

The figures show 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.

And district doctors, hospital campaigners and Wyre Forest MP David Lock have laid the blame firmly at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust door for its policy of pushing patients from other areas - with previously poor lists - ahead of Wyre Forest folk in the queue in an attempt to balance the figures across the county.

In an explosion of disgust and fury at the trust's action Mr Lock went straight to Health Minister Yvette Cooper to demand action and Wyre Forest General Practitioners Association chairman Dr Jim Goodman threatened practices would buy care from elsewhere unless the trust relented.

Save Kidderminster Hospital Campaign chairman Dr Richard Taylor dubbed it "an absolute disgrace" and said it was another example of Kidderminster being scaled down to improve services elsewhere.

The figures released this week for April to July show huge increases for Wyre Forest including a shocking 81.8 per cent rise for those waiting more than 12 months on the in-patient and day case list.

In the same period Redditch has seen its figures fall by 56.6 per cent and Worcester by 22.4 per cent.

Both Dr Taylor and Dr Goodman fear the figures are spiralling out of control due to the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital and the impending winter pressures.

Those on the waiting list may not be emergency cases but suffering painful conditions such as prostate problems, hernias and in some cases cancers.

Dr Taylor fumed: "One hopes that those suffering with cancer have at least been taken off the list.

"The health trust should hang its head in shame. People in this district are suffering because we are being penalised for having the best waiting lists. We must remember these figures are only up until July. One wonders what they are now since the downgrading and with winter pressures upon us.

"We don't even know if there will be enough nurses to man the beds because of the amount that are leaving."

Dr Goodman said GPs had received assurances from Worcestershire Health Authority that it would not level down lists.

He seethed: "We worked very hard with Kidderminster Hospital to reduce waiting lists. It is absolutely appalling this has been reversed by a deliberate policy.

"The primary care group has the money to buy the same level of care but the trust does not have the capacity to do the work. If it doesn't sort itself out we will take our money elsewhere.

"We could literally go three months without patients receiving operations which is appalling."

Mr Lock was furious at the figures and went straight on the warpath to the Health Minister demanding action.

He stormed: "This is what I suspected might happen after pursuing individual cases vigorously since April.

"I am not prepared to let Wyre Forest patients suffer because of worse practice elsewhere.

"I am extremely angry with this outrageous situation. The Government has increased spending by nine per cent this year in Worcestershire and at a time when the taxpayer is already paying a large amount of money this should not be happening.

"I hope the minister will use her influence to put pressure on the trust to provide additional resources, whether that means moving some elective surgery back to Kidderminster or opening up more winter pressure beds in Worcester."

A spokeswoman for the trust did not confirm if there were cancer patients on the list.

She added there was a six per cent increase for those awaiting inpatient surgery in the county between April and July and revealed there was a further 1.5 per cent from August to October.

She said: "There has never been permanent capacity at Kidderminster Hospital to sustain the original inpatient waiting experience, with one-off measures being used each year.

"The trust is currently recruiting consultant and nursing staff to increase its capacity permanently to maintain an improvement in waiting times.

"It is our aim to return not only the Wyre Forest waiting time position to its previous position over the next two years but secure this position for all Worcestershire residents."