A LEADING consultant has made an outspoken attack on waiting list targets and the star rating system.

Her comments follows a decision to downgrade the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust from three to two stars after inspectors found that 127 patients out of more than 180,000 were not seen within 26 weeks.

Professor Roseanne Kenny, who runs a specialist "faints and falls" unit, fears she will no longer be able to see patients referred from outside the Newcastle area.

Prof Kenny, who runs the regional unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, argues that her trust is being penalised by an inflexible system.

Because the unit runs a same-day service, which carries out a battery of tests to establish why someone is fainting, it has narrowly failed to meet targets which insist that no-one should wait for longer than 26 weeks for a first appointment.

Prof Kenny argues that the one-stop clinic is the best approach for patients who can receive a treatment plan on the day they attend.

But because the under-staffed clinic can only see a limited number of patients, a snapshot check carried out by the Commission for Health Improvement found that eight patients had been waiting too long.

This has contributed towards the trust's demotion.

Consultants are furious that the loss of a star will mean the trust will miss out on £1m of extra Government cash and the chance to become one of the first foundation hospitals.

Prof Kenny said if resulting cash restraints now meant that she could not see patients from places such as County Durham she would find that "ethically, morally and clinically unacceptable because there isn't anywhere else for them to go".

The trust is officially challenging this week's rating.