But local health chiefs have been congratulated for bringing the lists down as far as they have.

Latest figures show the number of people waiting for operations at the end of last month in East Sussex was 19,519 - 819 more than Ministers want to see by the beginning of April.

In West Sussex, there were still 20,326 waiting, meaning hospitals will have to bring lists down by a further 1,452 if they are to meet their collective target.

The worst figures were for Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, which had 9,604 people on its list, a total of 1,110 more than it should have by the end of this week.

In contrast, Hastings and Rother NHS Trust hit their target a month early, with just 4,098 people remaining on their list, 198 fewer than the 4,296 they are aiming for.

Chris Colville, spokesman for the South East Thames NHS Executive, said: "On the surface, both West and East Sussex will have missed their targets, but comparing them with other areas they have still done very well over the year as a whole."

In the East Sussex, Brighton and Hove Health Authority area the number of people waiting for hospital treatment fell by 499 to 19,519 between the end of January and the end of February.

But the authority does not expect to meet the Government's target figure of 18,700 by the end of March.

Spokeswoman Maddie Mayhew said the authority was not predicting by how far it would miss its end-of-year target, but added: "We will continue to work with local trusts to ensure that we get as close to the target as possible."

In West Sussex, waiting lists dropped to 20,326, a reduction of 1,074 since the end of January. Spokeswoman Linda Benny said: "We think at the moment that we are likely to miss our target by between 200 and 500.

"But we had an extremely challenging situation to face at the start of the year, with a reduction of 6,890 needed, which was the biggest numerical target in the whole South East Thames area and the sixth biggest percentage-wise.

"We feel hospitals here should be congratulated for a fantastic effort."

As well as Hastings and Rother, Eastbourne Hospitals NHS Trust has been relatively successful, beating its target figure a month early by six.

Across the UK as a whole, waiting lists have fallen below the level Labour inherited when it came to power two years ago for the first time.

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