THE Great Western Hospital has been fine-tuning its lifts to make them work more efficiently.

But the work has angered one couple, who were attending an appointment about a hip condition and said they had to walk upstairs to the orthopaedic department.

Julie Morris, 43, of Midhurst Avenue, went with partner Noel Dickinson, a 57-year-old foreman who has a medical complaint affecting both hips, for an appointment with a specialist.

She said: "The orthopaedic department is on the third floor, so when we got there we tried to get into the lift in the atrium, but it was out of order.

"A member of staff said all the lifts were out of order and we would have to use the stairs, so we did. My boyfriend was suffering terribly, and there were other people in the same position. Some of them were using walking sticks to hobble up the stairs, and many were in pain.

"We got there at 2pm for an appointment that was supposed to be at 2.30pm, but we were not seen until about 6pm."

However, hospital spokesman Chris Birdsall pointed out there are nine lifts at GWH. He said: "One lift was possibly out of order in order to enable an engineer to work on it, but that would not have affected the other lifts in the building.

"We have been carrying out some fine tuning on the lifts in the hospital, which are now quicker and more efficient."

On the matter of the delayed appointment, Mr Birdsall said: "There will be times when there are delays due to circumstances beyond our control, and patients are always advised of this.

"If any inconvenience has been caused, we apologise."