Worcestershire hospital trust 'sorry' for surgery delay

A hospital trust has apologised to a Bromsgrove woman for cancelling gall stone surgery three times.

Gail Philpott, 56, said she had now been told this led to the growth of a malignant tumour and that the cancer is terminal.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust said it appreciated the distress caused by cancelled operations but it had to prioritise urgent cases.

Mrs Philpott said she hoped her case would highlight gall bladder cancer.

Bed shortages

The Trust said: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mrs Philpott."

Outbreaks in the community of the winter vomiting bug Norovirus had reduced the number of beds available for patients at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, it said.

This led to emergency operations being prioritised over routine, planned surgery, resulting in some cancellations.

Mrs Philpott said her operation had been cancelled three times because of bed shortages and once because she had MRSA and was not well enough.

Mrs Philpott was a full-time carer for her husband until she became ill herself.

She said: "I just want people to be aware of gall bladder cancer because I come from a medical background and I had never heard of it before."