SPECIALIST doctors are to diagnose patient illnesses by video-link as part of a ground-breaking project to cut hospital waiting lists in East Lancashire.

The so-called telemedicine technology means GPs will be able to show consultants a patient's symptoms on a TV screen and receive immediate advice in the surgery.

The scheme is also being trialled at two of the country's top hospitals -- St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and St James's in Leeds.

The East Lancashire scheme is being paid for by £250,000 of Government cash.

It will be piloted by the dermatology departments at both Burnley General Hospital and Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn and will initially link up with nine GP practices in both towns though it will be expanded if it proves successful.

Currently, waiting times to see a consultant in dermatology at Blackburn Royal Infirmary are an average of 23 weeks and 22 weeks at Burnley.

It is hoped skin specialists will be able to immediately diagnose conditions over the video-link therefore slashing waiting times.

The scheme will also improve the working relationship between GPs and hospital specialists.

Last year a Community Health Council survey of patients' experiences at Burnley General's outpatient clinics uncovered "adverse comments" about the length of waiting at the dermatology department. The survey of 124 patients over two weeks in February, found that on some occasions patients had to wait in corridors -- which the CHC said was not acceptable, not least on health and safety grounds.

Burnley Health Care NHS Trust has also got a further £250,000 for two additional orthopaedic operating theatres and the refurbishment of two more.

Demand for orthopaedic treatment is especially high and the scheme will allow more patients to be seen. The work should be complete in January 2003.

Wendy Warne, business manager for acute services at Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust, said: "We are quite delighted to hear that we have been successful in this bid.

"The bid was dealt with on our behalf by the Burnley trust and we had been waiting for some time to hear whether we had been successful."

David Chew, Burnley Health Care NHS trust chief executive, said: "I am delighted that the trust has been successful in securing these bid monies. It once again highlights the hard work and determination of staff at all levels of the organisation.

"This is an important step in modernising facilities through the deployment of new technologies and in developing effective partnerships working with GPs in the area, while the orthopaedic scheme enables extra operating theatre capacity to be made available thereby reducing waiting times for patients."

GPs who will take part in the scheme will already be specialists in either dermatology and orthopaedics and will have to have full training and be accredited.

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Primary Care Trust said: "Although the bid has been successful, we have a lot of work still to do.

"The GPs involved will have to have specialist training and will already be experienced in those fields, but we do not know the details of the project yet."

Helen Gee, chief officer for the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Community Health Council, an independent health watchdog, welcomed the news.

She said: "This is fantastic news. We welcome the use of technology and the fact that the trust is trying to tackle waiting lists."