HEALTH bosses have beaten the odds by slashing waiting times in dozens of consultant clinics.

Trust chiefs in Blackburn have met a Government target to reduce waiting lists for all outpatient clinics to below 26 weeks.

Five months ago, Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust was struggling to meet the target in seven per cent of its clinics.

The maximum wait to see one gynaecologist was more than 80 weeks and there were also crippling waits to see orthopaedic and rheumatology consultants.

But more than 85 per cent of clinics now have a routine maximum waiting time of less than 13 weeks.

Bosses say the remarkable progess has been down to the hard work of medical, nursing and medical records staff. Chief executive John Thomas said: "Everybody in the trust has worked very hard to reduce outpatient waiting times.

"At the end of September the vast majority of consultant clinics were able to offer routine appointments within 13 weeks and all clinics had reduced the maximum wait to no more than 26 weeks.

"This is a significant improvement on the position a year ago and we will continue to work to improve the service further."

The trust runs 140 clinics at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn Infirmary, Accrington Victoria Hospital and Clitheroe Community Hospital.

It has appointed new specialists in urology, orthopaedics and gynaecology to help reduce waiting times through extra cash from regional health bosses and East Lancashire Health Authority.

The drop in outpatient times follows dramatic cuts in the wait for hospital admission to less than 12 months.

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