NHS Wiltshire has been rapped for imposing a minimum waiting time of 15 weeks for people to receive hospital treatment.

The health trust imposed the 15-week limit to save money, to ensure patients are treated strictly in order and to prevent unfair competition on waiting times. But the move has been criticised by the Co-Operation and Competition Panel (CCP), an independent watchdog that advises the NHS.

In a report published last week, the CCP said: “The conduct of Wiltshire Primary Care Trust in setting uniform minimum waiting times, which in effect become minimum waiting times, restricts competition and distorts patient choice and this imposes material costs on patients and taxpayers.”

The CCP was called on to investigate the PCT after a complaint by Circle Health Limited, which runs a private hospital in Bath. Circle was told by NHS WIltshire that if it wanted a contract to treat NHS patients it had to agree to conditions, including the minimum 15-week waiting time and restricting the services it could offer.

Circle said these rules were unfair and breached principles and rules for co-operation and competition in the NHS. The CCP report said NHS Wiltshire’s actions breach principles 3 and 5.

Patients in England have a legal right to start their hospital treatment within 18 weeks of referral by their GP.

The CCP report says: “Delayed treatment could potentially result in some patients requiring more complex and expensive care. In conclusion, the conduct may deliver very short term financial gain to the PCT (ie over a single financial year, by resulting in some patients being treated in the next financial year), but we have not seen any evidence that, in the longer run, increasing waiting times and setting minimum waiting times saves money.”

NHS Wiltshire also said it restricted the number of providers of health services to ensure sufficient patients choose the Devizes NHS Treatment Centre, which is run by UK Specialist Hospitals (UKSH), a private company, to meet the minimum guaranteed payment.

UKSH is guaranteed a minimum payment regardless of the number of patients it treats in a contract agreed by the Department of Health.

Before making a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Health the CCP is seeking views from interested parties on how the breach of the principles and rules it has identified may be remedied.

A statement of suggested remedies is on the CCP’s website at www.ccpanel.org.uk Responses should be submitted by Monday, August 8 to cases@ccpanel.gsi.gov.uk NHS Wiltshire said it was considering its response to the report and did not want to comment.