HEALTH chiefs have conceded defeat in their battle to ensure no patient waits more than a year for treatment.

East Lancashire Health Authority agreed the Patients Charter Standard was "unrealistic and outdated" and it was better for someone to wait longer to have a wart removed if someone else got a heart bypass more quickly. More than 60 patients are currently waiting 12 months or more for treatment at the Burnley Health Trust.

Bev Humphrey, the health authority's director of strategic planning and contracting, said East Lancashire hospitals were under fierce pressure to control waiting lists.

She predicted it was going to get worse, with more patients at Burnley and Blackburn hospitals having to wait more than a year for surgery.

Mrs Humphrey said: "I think the time is right to switch the emphasis back to clinical need.

"It may be we make decisions where, for example, it is acceptable for a patient to wait 15 months to have a wart removed if that meant another patient waiting just four months for a heart bypass graft.

"It is very disappointing locally to see the 12-month standard slipping after such a big effort from hospital and health workers."

She said health authorities were under terrific pressure from the Government to control waiting lists and conform to Patients Charter standards.

Frank Clifford, chairman of Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Community Health Council, said: "The service needs significant extra money.

"You can shake so much managerial costs out of the system, but it comes to a point when there is no more that can be done."

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