HEALTH chiefs are optimistic that they can almost halve the number of people waiting more than 13 weeks for an out-patient appointment.
At present, the North Durham Health Care Trust, which runs Durham's Dryburn Hospital and Shotley Bridge Hospital, near Consett, has 3,252 patients who have been waiting for more than 13 weeks.
The trust plans to reduce that figure to 1,701 by the end of the financial year as part of the Government's waiting list initiative.
Trust chief executive Bill Worth said the figure for May was two down on that for the previous month.
"We are pleased that the list hasn't increased but we do, however, have a lot of work to do to hit our target.
"A lot of initiatives we have got planned won't start to have an impact until August or September.
"We have made slow progress, in part because we have had to get things up and running, but we are optimistic that across the year we will make good progress."
The trust hopes to reduce waiting times by initiatives including the introduction of clinics for back pain, physiotherapy, breast surgery and gynaecology.
Extra neurology clinics and rheumatology clinics are also planned.
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