Hospital bans 'routine' complaints to hit targets

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital is refusing to accept "routine" complaints in a bid to cut waiting lists. Bosses at the Stanmore trust have ordered family doctors to divert up to 4,300 people a year to other hospitals.

It is part of a plan to hit a key government target that no patient waits over 18 weeks for treatment.

But campaigners today accused the trust of betraying patients to please the Department of Health. Medics fear the practice of diverting people is becoming widespread as hospitals struggle to meet the target by December-Only three out of 10 orthopaedic patients are seen within the set time.

Michael Summers, vice chairman of the Patients' Association, said: "This is simply cheating. It is depriving patients of treatment by using a device to meet the Government demand. Patients are being denied the right to choose where they go for treatment."

Under a flagship Labour policy patients are supposed to pick which hospital they want to go to. But the move by the RNOHmeans thousands can no longer choose it via their GP for hip and knee operations, lower back pain and rehabilitation. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, a GP in Stanmore and a member of the British Medical Association family doctors committee, said: "This makes a mockery of the idea of patient choice.

"People should have the right to be treated at their local, well-known orthopaedic hospital." The disclosure will be embarrassing to Government as both policies - patient choice and 18 weeks - are trumpeted as a success.

The RNOH treats over 10,000 people a year, including about 4,300 who are sent by GPs. Bosses argue hip and knee operations are already carried out by district hospitals such as Barnet and Chase Farm or Northwick Park Hospital. They say it is not appropriate for specialists to spend their time on routine work. A trust spokeswoman said it was part of a move to focus on specialist work. She said: "We are treating more patients than ever before so we are not turning patients away.

"[However] if we are to achieve the 18-week wait we will have to focus the activity we undertake and we have written to primary care trusts to propose that they work with GPs to ensure that their patients are treated at the most appropriate location."

In a letter to health trusts the hospital admitted the target left it with " significant issues" and said it needed to clear a backlog of patients. A Department of Health spokesman said: "NHS providers should accept all clinically appropriate referrals made to them."