A DISABLED pensioner sent home from hospital on the day she was due for an operation today said: "I just want to know what is going on."

Wheelchair-bound Jean Curry, 68, was expecting an operation at Burnley General Hospital to repair a broken hip joint but said she was sent home without treatment or an explanation when the operation was cancelled on the day.

Burnley Health NHS Trust today said it was difficult to ascertain why surgery was cancelled but a spokesman said Mrs Curry may have had a medical condition which would have prevented the operation being carried out.

Jean, of Malvern Avenue, Hapton, had both hips replaced ten years ago but knocked one out of place after a fall in 1998.

She has been in a wheelchair ever since and said she suffers agonising pain.

Since the fall the hospital have been carrying out tests in preparation for an operation and four weeks ago Mrs Curry, who lives with husband Andrew, 70, was called in for surgery.

But Mrs Curry said that after spending the night in Burnley General she was seen by a doctor and told her the surgery could not go ahead and that she would have to go home.

She said she was given no reason why the operation was cancelled and had not heard from the hospital since to re-schedule the operation.

Mrs Curry said: "Before I had the fall I was up and about and could move around the house quite freely or go out and catch the bus, but now I am trapped in this wheelchair and the pain is agony. My husband has to do everything to look after me and it isn't easy for him either.

"I had been having lots of tests at the hospital and when they told me I was going to have the operation I was over the moon. I thought I would be able to enjoy my freedom again.

"But now I am completely in the dark. They sent me home without giving me any reason why I couldn't have the surgery done and I can't get any information out of them. I have tried phoning and sending a letter but but still I get no response. I just want to know what is going on."

Angela Brown, communications manager at Burnley Health NHS Trust said she had spoken to the admissions people at the hospital and added: "It is difficult to ascertain why the operation was cancelled. It appeared she had a medical condition which meant she was not fit to have the operation.

"We're going to write to Mrs Curry with full details then we can sort it out between us."