ABOUT 300 people joined the queue for treatment at York District Hospital between March and the end of last month, due mainly to a virus that caused massive disruption to wards and operating theatres.

And a "bed blocking" crisis highlighted by an Evening Press campaign has resurfaced to pile on the agony for patients.

Hospital managers are drawing up urgent plans to find a way out of the waiting list problems.

They will tell the York Health Trust board on Monday that in routine in-patient and day care it is 464 cases, or ten per cent, behind schedule - at the very time it had hoped to make major inroads into tough waiting list targets for 2000-2001.

The total in-patient waiting list increased to 6,931 at the end of April (compared with a target of 6,815), the number of patients waiting over 12 months for routine treatment rose to 163, and the number of patients waiting more than 13 weeks for an outpatient appointment went up to 2,091.

But the hospital dealt with 181 more emergency cases than it planned for, and it looks like the trust will meet its target that all patients with suspected breast cancer should not wait more than 14 days for an outpatient appointment this month.

A report by Patrick Cowley, director of performance management, pins the main blame for waiting list problems on 320 cancellations caused by the highly infectious Norwalk-type virus which struck the hospital in April and May, and the continued high level of "delayed discharges".

The latter problem, highlighted in our Care in Crisis campaign, leaves elderly people occupying much-needed hospital beds because there is insufficient social services funding for them to move to a nursing home.

A report from Colin Watts, the hospital's general manager, says the trust and York primary care group (PCG) made £60,000 available, which allowed City of York social services to place seven patients out of a total of 20 - 15 from City of York and five from North Yorkshire.

But he says the situation poses a "continuing risk" to trust targets.

George Wood, the trust's deputy chief executive, said: "The problem is a serious one, and it's causing enormous difficulties now in terms of trying to get the routine elective work through the hospital."

An action plan to address the waiting list problems is being drawn up by senior doctors, in close contact with the regional NHS, North Yorkshire Health Authority, local PCGs and City of York Council.

Mr Wood would not be drawn on whether the trust would request extra funds, saying the plan was still being finalised, but he confirmed the work was "urgent".

Asked whether managers were confident they could still meet waiting list targets, he said: "It's very, very challenging now."