Patients in the South-East have the longest wait for operations in the country, according to a study.

Waiting times have increased across the country but in the South-East they have shot up to nearly 230 days, says consumer group Health Care Navigator.

This is almost three weeks behind the average figure of 203.8 days for England as a whole.

The Department of Health figures focus on patients who have already seen a consultant and are waiting for follow-up treatment.

Health Care Navigator's latest report shows waiting times for gynaecology operations stand at more than 189 days in the South-East, more than 50 days longer than patients wait in the North West.

Roger Hymas, of Health Care Navigator, said there were two reasons for the high South-East figures.

He said: "First, it's the availability of specialists for a large population. Secondly, I think there are problems in certain hospitals about capacity."

A spokesman for the South-East Regional Office of the NHS Executive said: "Together with London, we probably are the worst in the country.

"This is because of the very great pressures on the service from high populations, a lot of elderly people living along the South Coast and more importantly the fact we have zero unemployment which makes the difficulty of recruiting and retaining staff even greater. "

He said there were particular problems in East Sussex because of beds being "blocked" by patients who ready to leave hospital but unable to return to their homes or care homes.