"Lean" times will continue at Airedale Hospital as a successful improvement programme is expanded.

The strategy will also be extended to other health agencies and services across the area.

Lean is a strategy for streamlining procedures so patients are treated more quickly and effectively.

It is widely used in the manufacturing industry to streamline operations and boost productivity.

Lean has already halved referral-to-diagnosis waiting times for patients with suspected bowel cancer.

And pregnant women expecting underweight babies are getting scans within 24 hours instead of six weeks.

Airedale NHS Trust says Lean principles have transformed hospital working practices, reduced waiting times and improved patient care and safety.

Hospital staff work with outside professionals, such as GPs, to eliminate wasteful practices as patients move along the "pathway" to treatment.

Now the trust has appointed Sue Speak, matron for hospital midwifery at Airedale, as Head of Lean Improvement.

Her brief is to roll out Lean more widely across the trust and other local "healthcare communities".

The expansion follows work with Ilkley-based Lean Healthcare Academy on pilot projects through a new training facility at the hospital.

Sue said: "Lean has made a big difference in a number of areas at the hospital.

"We have had some fantastic feedback from staff about the benefits that have been seen."

Sue is working with Airedale's "Lean Champions" - a ten-strong, cross-section of trust staff who were among the first in the UK healthcare sector to gain the Business Improvement Techniques (BIT) NVQ.

The second cohort of Airedale Lean Champions, including Sue, are currently working towards the BIT NVQ, with a third group scheduled to undertake training in April.

Sue said: "We still have a great deal of work to do, but we are getting there.

"Not all projects are successful but we now have a major opportunity to build on our achievements."