A £500,000 boost in ultrasound services has dramatically reduced unacceptably long patient waiting times at hospitals in Oxford.

People queuing for outpatient appointments used to wait up to five months for an ultrasound appointment. Now the average wait is three to four weeks.

The problems got worse as more patients were referred for appointments by their GPs and consultants.

In 1983, fewer than 2,000 patients used the department, but the figure increased to 16,500 last year.

Now the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital Trust, responsible for the John Radcliffe Hospital, the Churchill Hospital and the Radcliffe Infirmary, has invested in five new ultrasound machines, which are used for diagnostic and monitoring purposes.

Offices have also been adapted to increase the number of scanning rooms from three to five, and a patient waiting area has been created.

Three full-time and one part-time ultrasonographers have been appointed to help with the backlog of patients.

Dr David Lindsell, lead clinician for ultrasound at the JR, said: "It was demoralising when we had patients waiting such a long time. People were understandably dismayed.

"Now we can work as a team. We are less pressurised and we can take a little more time on some of the skilled procedures.

"For a relatively small investment we have been able to make a dramatic change in the service we are able to offer."