MORE consultants, more nurses and more and better equipment are needed in Hereford hospitals.

People are being overworked and facilities over-stretched as they struggle to cope with higher standards in a district general hospital that has always been under-funded.

Considerable investment is needed to correct the situation and, if not forthcoming, hospital care in Herefordshire will be jeopardised.

These are some of the conclusions in a report prepared by consultant Peter Harper and endorsed by health authorities in the county.

Mr Harper was asked to review the delivery of hospital services locally and to advise on how best they can be improved in the future.

"He was told to pull no punches and he didn't,'' said Melvyn Ellis, chief executive of Herefordshire Health Authority.

But Mr Ellis said there was no reason for patients to be scared over the situation. The report would only be 'scary' if nothing was being done about it. More consultants were already being appointed and more money was being provided by the Government.

"We recently had an extra £2.1 million and this has been promised for the next three years,'' said Mr Ellis.

Implementing all of Mr Harper's recommendations would cost a substantial amount of money and would take a few years to complete.

But the consultant's report had highlighted what needed to be done to keep hospital services in Hereford.

In his report, Mr Harper said the present consultant manpower in Hereford was inadequate for the clinical and non-clinical role it was expected to perform.

A major increase in their numbers was imperative and all services must be adequately staffed.