Boss vows Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital will tackle waiting times

Frank Collins told members of Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust board that he was pleased with the progress being made to tackle waiting times at Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital.

The board heard at a meeting yesterday that waiting lists are being micromanaged, with some looked at daily.

It comes after Monitor, the Government's health regulator, launched an inquiry into the hospital last year because it was concerned too many patients were waiting longer than the national targets for England and Wales.

A recovery plan was put in place which hospital bosses revealed is progressing well.

Kim Barrow, director of operations at the trust, said of the 19 patients that had been waiting for 52 weeks all but one now had dates in place. The exception was a patient on a transplant list.

She said: "The situation of long waiters – those waiting more than 40 weeks – is being micromanaged with daily reports. I cannot stress to the board highly enough how complex this issue is."

All waiting lists were now being published on the intranet and on the internet weekly and the hospital was keen to be completely transparent, she said.

New posts have also been put in place to provide the support for consultants and other staff to ensure referral to treatment times are met.

She praised staff for their hard work and enthusiasm in tackling the problem.

"I have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and drive to sustain and improve this very special organisation," she said.

Acting chief executive John Grinell told the hospital trust board that an independent body had started work at the hospital on January 18 checking data for all 9,500 patients on its waiting lists.

That work should finish by February 23.

Mr Collins said: "I am very pleased with the progress and confident that we have in place a commitment to get this right and get it sorted. We will succeed."