IT was with great interest I read the report in The Citizen (June 8) concerning the reduction in the waiting lists at Blackpool's Victoria Hospital. It would seem that the hospital just makes patients waiting for appointments disappear -- by not putting them on waiting lists.

My GP referred me to Victoria Hospital on April 27 to have an injection in my shoulder. Because my wife and I are in business and we wanted to plan long-term for the summer season, we telephoned the consultant's secretary some three weeks later to get some idea as to the date of my consultation.

To our surprise we were told that the appointment would be "sometime in September". Because of this long wait before my consultation I have yet to receive an appointment, ergo, I am not on the offficial waiting list.

From this you can see that, although patients are referred to the hospital by GPs, they do not appear on any waiting list simply because they are not given appointments. Just how many patients are "in limbo" between their GP's referral and being given an appointment?

I wonder if this list were looked into, just how much longer the published lists would be? Talk about being economical with the truth.

Because all political parties are interested in waiting lists in the NHS I am sending copies of this letter to the leaders to make of it what they will.

Patrick De-La-Mere, Glenmere Hotel, Gynn Avenue, North Shore.