STAFF at Kidderminster Hospital have been praised for helping provide faster access to treatment for patients.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which also includes Worcestershire Royal and Redditch's Alexandra hospitals, met demanding year-end targets set by the Department of Health.

Maximum waiting times were reduced to six months for operations and 13 weeks for outpatient appointments.

"This is undoubtedly good news for our patients, who are now getting the treatment they need more quickly," said the trust's chief executive, John Rostill.

"Many of the thousands of people we treat every year will wait much less than the maximum time.

"We can now offer the reassurance that no-one will have to wait more than six months for an operation or 13 weeks for a first outpatient appointment.

"Having made a magnificent effort to hit these targets, we cannot be complacent. We must work hard to keep waiting times down, because, in just two years time - 2008 - the target will be a maximum of 18 weeks from a patient being referred to us by their GP to them starting their hospital treatment.

"Many people complain about the imposition of targets but not me. This gives a focus to improving the patient's experience. We want to get ahead of the game and continue to drive waiting times down.

"There is now a real choice and we anticipate that patients will begin to exercise this and no doubt waiting times will be one of the criteria used."

Mr Rostill said that only two years ago, the inpatient waiting time target was a year and the outpatient target was 21 weeks.

He added: "In March, 2003, nearly a quarter of patients on our inpatient waiting list were waiting more than six months and over 1,600 were waiting longer than 13 weeks for an initial outpatient appointment.

"Compare that with the latest figures, where nearly 50 per cent of patients wait less than six weeks for outpatients and nearly 60 per cent of inpatient or day cases are seen within three months."