HOSPITAL waiting lists have fallen by 331 at Preston Acute Hospitals Trust and seven at Chorley and South Ribble NHS Trust - despite a rise of 2,206 in the North West in the four months to June.

Hugh Lamont, spokesman for the NHS Executive North West, said: "There was a definite blip in the figures over the holiday period, as clinics closed over Easter, but figures are well down when we look at the past 12 months.

"Preston in particular has an outstanding record on tackling waiting lists and they've done a lot of inventive things to reduce them.

"It has been awarded Beacon status and we are delighted with its approach and it's setting a standard for other hospitals to follow."

The total number of people on NHS waiting lists in England at the end of July 99 was 1,091,535 - a fall of 2,716 in the past month.

The total fall since April 1998 is 221,083, bringing the government to within 34,000 of its target for the entire duration of parliament.

Health minister John Denham said: "I am glad to see that the downward trend has continued with another fall this month.

"We remain firmly on course to honour our Manifesto promise to cut waiting lists to at least 100,000 less than the figure the government inherited.

"NHS staff have again shown how hard work and dedication can make a real difference to reducing the numbers of people waiting.

"We promised to wage and win the war on in-patient waiting and that's just what we're doing.

"However, we are also applying the same determination and targeted effort to tackle the outpatient waiting list and times."

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