She's staying put (From Barry And District News)

She's staying put

A BARRY man is refusing to take his mum out of Llandough hospital after her crucial operation was cancelled.

Roy Jefferies, of Quarella Street, is furious that his 83- year-old mother's surgery was abandoned without warning by Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust.

Sylvia Jefferies, of College Road, Barry, is a sufferer of acute angina, a condition that is aggravated by stress.

She has been waiting for a knee replacement for four years and is at present unable to walk more than a few steps.

Roy, an ambulanceman, told the News: "I took mum into Llandough hospital last Tuesday, a week before the operation was planned.

"Within a few hours I had a phone call to say it had been cancelled due to an emergency operation on a patient from the Heath hospital.

"My mother has lost four years of her mobility because of her knee, and they fully intended to send her home and re-book her operation for a later date," he said.

"After I refused, they said they would try to reschedule the operation. They then managed to negotiate time in the operation theatre for Monday, as originally planned."

But despite Roy's success in persuading the hospital not to put his mother back on the waiting list, she was still unable to have the operation as the anaesthetist was worried about her heart condition.

"My mother's angina was very controlled until she went into hospital," Roy continued

"But because of all the trauma of having her operation cancelled, she has had extra incidents of chest pain."

The pensioner now says she would be unable to go through the stress of returning to hospital again, and she is waiting to hear whether she can stay in the hospital until her heart condition stabilises.

In June of this year 108 patients had their operations cancelled in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Roy has been an ambulance driver in the Barry area for more than 28 years and his wife also works in the health service.

"I think this happens quite a lot," he said.

"People go in for operations and then just get sent home. Consequently, they could go on waiting for another six months."

When questioned, officials at Cardiff and the Vale NHS Trust refused to comment on the case but said they were trying to set up a scheme to deal with the problem of cancelled operations.