PATIENTS wait an average of seven months in the UK from seeing their GP to having their operation, according to figures published today.

And despite Government efforts to stop the so-called "postcode lottery" of care, wide regional variations still exist in waiting times.

Patients in the North-East and Yorkshire face average waits of 187.2 days before getting hospital treatment. West Midlanders have the shortest wait of 184.8 days.

In a bid to cut waiting times for orthopaedic patients, County Durham and Darlington Health Authority is spending nearly £1m to buy 250 operations - including hip replacements - at the private Cleveland Nuffield Hospital at Norton, Stockton.

The Independent Centre for Economics and Business Research compiled the waiting league table from official Government figures.

While waiting times fell by 3.4 days in the second quarter of this year, after three consecutive rises, the average patient has a 201-day wait between seeing a doctor and getting the treatment they need.

Gynaecology patients wait just 163.6 days, while trauma and orthopaedics fare the worst of all with a 255.6-day wait.

But the statistics have been criticised because the concentrate on the average waiting time rather than the number of people waiting, which is the focus of Department of Health figures.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "These figures are wrong because the maths hasn't been done properly in several ways.

"Not all patients who see a specialist doctor for an outpatient appointment need to have an operation.

"In fact, about 40 per cent of patients who see a specialist actually need to have an operation.

"The outpatient waiting times figures used in this survey measure people who have already had their appointment.

"Waiting times for inpatient treatment are based on people who are currently in the system, so like has not been added to like."

The spokesman added: "Also, these calculations assume that patients go straight from their first appointment with a hospital consultant to the waiting list for an operation.

"But in many cases there are tests, for example, to be done first. And in many cases, patients receive further care in outpatient clinics or from their GPs.