THE head of a scandal-hit health board has apologised again to patients who had been misled over waiting list times.

Bosses at NHS Lothian said they are spending about £10 million and taking on hundreds of staff in an attempt to reduce waiting times for patients after it emerged that it had manipulated waiting times.

NHS Lothian board chairman Dr Charles Winstanley told a gathering of about 100 people in Edinburgh he was sorry for the debacle.

He said: "I apologise now as I did at the time for this and for the consequences for some patients. Our priority is to get waiting time targets back on track."

Tim Davison, chief executive of the board, said: "We are making real progress in reducing the number of people waiting to be treated but I would like to reassure those affected that we will remain attentive and will not become complacent."

It emerged last October patients in the NHS Lothian area who refused to travel to England for treatment were cut from the list to be seen in the 18-week target.

Some were referred to Northumberland for treatment, but if they declined to go they were marked as "un-available for social reasons" and not put on a list which had a target time of 18 weeks for treatment.

In June, NHS Lothian was one of just two health boards which failed to meet the Scottish Government's target of treating 90% of patients in this time.