Two members of staff have been suspended and an independent investigation launched after an NHS Trust published incorrect waiting list figures.

Figures for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust showed only 10 patients waited more than six months for a first appointment with a consultant between April and December 2002.

But it now emerges the correct figure was nearer 200.

The local health watchdog says it thinks the wrong figures may have been given out deliberately.

The discrepancy between the number 10 and the number 200 is very large Kathleen Sawyer, Tunbridge Wells CHC

Last year the government said no patient should wait more than six months for a first appointment - one of the reasons the trust had to publish figures at the end of the year.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust's chief executive Mark Davies had only been in the job for a few days when he became aware of the problem.

"Last week, on my sixth day at the trust, a member of staff came to see me and told me that they thought there may be some irregularities in the way that we were sending information to the health authority," Mr Davies said.

Meet targets

"I would like to reassure people that this is not an issue about clinical care or clinical standards, this is an administrative matter in the way that we were reporting figures."

The trust's hospitals

Kent and Sussex Hospital Pembury Hospital Maidstone Hospital Kent County Ophthalmic and Aural Hospital

The Tunbridge Wells Community Health Council (CHC) works as a watchdog group in the area.

Kathleen Sawyer, chief officer, said: "The discrepancy between the number 10 and the number 200 is very large and I would have thought, although we won't know until after the inquiry, that it's a little bit more deliberate.

"The trust obviously has to meet targets set by the government and if they don't meet those targets then they have to answer for it."

The investigation will be led by Professor Robert Tinston of Manchester University and is expected to last several months.