A MOTHER has told of her agony after an operation to remove a ruptured appendix was cancelled four times in three days.

Susan Macintosh said she was terrified while she lay in bed with a burst appendix as she was repeatedly told her operation slot had been put off due to emergencies.

The 44-year-old, of Great Harwood, was admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital on Tuesday, November 6, with stomach pains and told she had appendicitis and would be operated on the following day.

However the operation was cancelled and was told she would be given a scan instead to check on the tissue.

The scan revealed her appendix had ruptured and Ms Macintosh was told she would be operated on that night, however the operation was again cancelled.

The teaching assistant was told she would be operated on Thursday, November 8, however the procedure was cancelled twice due to other emergency operations taking priority.

Ms Macintosh said at one point she was in the hallway on the way to theatre before being made to wait for four hours to be told it was cancelled. She said: “Because I knew the appendix had ruptured, I was terrified to have this poison in my body.

“There were lots of other emergency operations coming in and it put me to the back of the queue.

“I was in so much pain. I was given antibiotics and painkillers constantly and I was starved to prepare for each operation so I had barely eaten anything.

“It was mentally draining. I just kept getting an apology from nurses and staff, but I knew it wasn’t their fault and they were doing all they can.”

The mum-of-one said she was finally taken into the operating theatre on Friday, November 9, and was told the keyhole procedure took three-and-a-half hours, when it should have only taken an hour.

174 operations cancelled at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust in THREE months

Ms Macintosh said: “The surgeon said I was a mess inside. There was so much bacteria and mess from the rupture it took them ages to sort everything and get me patched up.

“It’s been two weeks now and I still haven’t got over the whole thing, I still feel ill.

“One of the reasons my operation was cancelled because there was a young girl who came in with bleeding tonsils, what would have happened to her if I had already been under the knife?

“The ward couldn’t cope with the amount of people coming in who needed operating on.”

John Bannister, director of operations at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Our staff do their utmost to provide safe, personal and effective care for all our patients, all the time.

“There are occasions though when we must give priority to patients who need emergency surgery.

“Unfortunately, this can mean a short delay for other patients awaiting an operation.

“We try to avoid this wherever possible and, where the delay affects an existing inpatient, they remain under the safe care of medical staff throughout their stay in hospital.

“We respect our patients’ right to confidentiality, so we cannot comment on individual cases.

“However, we can confirm that we have received a complaint from Ms Macintosh and we are disappointed she has approached the media with her concerns before giving us the opportunity to discuss it with her.”