TWO of the three directors suspended after allegations of deliberate misreporting of waiting list figures will not return to work at the Scarborough NHS Trust.

An independent report, unveiled yesterday, revealed that misreporting had taken place at the trust for several years.

It said: "Several staff interviewed as part of the investigation confirm that waiting lists have been manipulated in various ways for several years.

"This had included excluding patients from the live waiting list inappropriately so that the overall list size was under-reported, and suspending long-wait patients so that maximum waiting times were not reported as breaching the target."

The report said that by early 2002 it was accepted custom and practice to bend and break waiting list rules to achieve performance targets.

The trust has decided not to take any disciplinary action against the three directors, Chief nurse Liz Parker, director of planning Martin Hay, and director of information services Jim Brace, who were held accountable for the misreported data.

They will be allowed to return to work, but Mrs Parker and Dr Brace have announced their retirement and Mr Hay has been demoted.

Chief executive Alison Guy, who was appointed in September last year, said the trust deeply regretted the incident, but it was now looking to the future.

She said: "It has led to a massive change internally. We now have one of the best waiting lists in the country. We had a full management review and we are now clear about the management responsibilities within the organisation."

She said she was not surprised by the content of the report.

The inquiry report also raised concerns about the trust's management culture, referring to it as "insular".

It said there was a lack of accountability between members of staff for key decisions and there was also a lack of clarity and understanding about how to report waiting lists.

Updated: 10:24 Friday, July 04, 2003