A CANCER patient has hit out at his five-week delay to start radiotherapy treatment after having three appointments cancelled.

William Flynn, 52, has been waiting to start radiotherapy at Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital after being referred there for treatment for his mouth cancer.

After initially having surgery at the Royal Bolton Hospital which required 13 stitches to his mouth he was due to start radiotherapy to continue his cancer treatment on May 3.

However he was told due to problems with equipment it would have to be rescheduled until May 14.

The same delays then caused the appointment to be put back to June 6, and Mr Flynn has been told this appointment has also been rescheduled as the problem has not been resolved.

East Lancashire Hospitals Trust said they apologised for the cancelled appointments but said on rare occasions ‘unavoidable situations’ occur.

However father-of-two Mr Flynn, from Manchester, described the wait to start his treatment as ‘outrageous’.

He said: “It’s got me so mad, I’m like a volcano waiting to erupt. It’s outrageous.

“I can’t keep waiting for this, it needs to be done.

“It’s not just me, this must affect thousands of people in the area who are being sent here for treatment.

“People are seriously ill, people are dying while the waiting goes on.

“I just keep getting told the machine has not been fixed and they’re waiting for a part.

“The NHS is one of the biggest companies in the world, people shouldn’t have to wait this long.”

Mr Flynn, who is a carer for his wife, has now been scheduled in for another appointment to hopefully begin his radiotherapy treatment later this month.

The grandfather-of-four was first diagnosed with mouth cancer in April this year and was referred to Blackburn after surgery at Bolton.

Tony McDonald, deputy director of operations at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said staff will be making every effort to ensure Mr Flynn faces no further delays.

He said: “Our apologies to Mr Flynn for his cancelled appointments, however, on rare occasions, unavoidable situations do happen which mean an appointment needs to be changed at very short notice.

“A new appointment has been provisionally scheduled and our staff will be making every effort to ensure there is no further delay.”