FURIOUS MP Greg Pope has attacked the "gross inefficiency'' of the Department of Health after it took almost a year to reply to a letter about a constituent's problem.

The delay was the last straw for the Hyndburn Labour backbencher who had previously had to wait months for answers to earlier correspondence from its Ministers.

Junior Health Minister David Lammy admitted to problems but said action had been taken to speed up replies to correspondence.

Mr Pope quizzed the department about delays in replying to MPs' letters and was told that in the last year that figures were available 15,080 letters had been answered within six months, 489 in between six and nine months, 205 in between nine and 12 months, and 74 after more than 12 months.

The average time to reply to a letter was 44.8 days, the department said.

Mr Pope said: "I do not normally publicly criticise my own government but it is a scandal that almost 300 MPs have been waiting for replies about their constituents problems for more than nine months and 74 for over a year.

"I had a complaint from a constituent about the regulation of private care homes. I wrote to the Department of Health on January 11, 2002, and got a reply dated December 3. That is almost 11 months.

"It was the straw that broke the camel's back. I have frequently had delays of months replying to letters with simple queries -- but this was by far the worst.

"I know my colleagues in East Lancashire have had similar problems.

"The Department of Health is far worse than other government departments.

"The subject of this particular letter does not matter -- and my constituent wants to keep it confidential. But the principle is crucial.

"These delays are appalling. It is gross inefficiency on the part of ministers and officials.

"To add insult to injury, the Department enclosed a letter apologising for the delay with the reply to my January letter."

Mr Lammy said: "A customer service project has been set up under the department's change programme.

"The aim of this project is to significantly improve the department's performance in handling telephone, written and e-mail enquiries from members of the public and their representatives and to maximise the potential of the department's website and other forms of communication media."