A hospital has been criticised after figures showed patients needing hearing aids were having to wait almost two years to be seen.

Worthing MPs Tim Loughton and Peter Bottomley said the waits were unacceptable and the service at Worthing Hospital needed massive improvements.

Figures released by the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists showed patients at Worthing waited 95 weeks compared to the national average of 47 weeks.

Mr Loughton, who represents East Worthing and Shoreham, and West Worthing MP, Peter Bottomley, said Adur, Arun and Worthing Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the Department of Health needed to invest more money into audiology services in the town.

Mr Loughton said: "We visited the audiology department at Worthing Hospital on Friday and met with the staff there and the hospital leaders.

"We invited the PCT to attend as well but they had nobody available to come and talk with us which was very disappointing.

"The team at the hospital work extremely hard but they are overwhelmed by the demand and it is unfair to have huge expectations that they can meet this demand without the support that they need to do it.

"It is going to take some serious investment and collaboration between the PCT and the hospital to sort out the long waits. This is now one of the biggest single issues constituents are raising with us."

Mr Bottomley said: "The issue has been raised with the PCT, the Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority and with the Department of Health but nobody seems to be in a position to do anything about it.

"People who need hearing help are mostly elderly and often amongst the most vulnerable people in the local community.

"For them to have to wait almost two years for something that makes such a huge difference to quality of life is not even close to the quality of the service which should be available."

A spokeswoman for Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust said: "An enormous amount of effort is going into reducing audiology waiting times as the trust acknowledges that the length of time patients are having to wait is unacceptable.

"The problem is simply that demand for the service far outstrips our resources. We have more than double the number of patients on our books that we can cope with and are continually having to seek additional funding and new ways of working.

"A number of initiatives are in place and extra funding has been forthcoming from the PCT and Department of Health.

"In April we launch a new initiative with the PCT and the West Sussex Association for the Deaf, which we anticipate will lead to a significant reduction in waiting times.

"The large elderly population, national shortage of audiologists and introduction of digital hearing aids all contribute to the long waits but staff are working very hard to rectify the problem."