Bed shortage keeps girl, 13, waiting for throat op

The surgery is due to take place at Leicester Royal Infirmary

A 13-year-old girl with sleep apnoea has been left feeling anxious after crucial throat surgery was repeatedly postponed due to a shortage of hospital beds.

Lucy had been due to have her tonsils removed at the Leicester Royal Infirmary at the start of December but the operation was rearranged when she contracted tonsillitis.

Since then the surgery has been postponed a further four times due to there being no beds available.

The University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust has apologised for the "continued delay" and the operation is due to finally go ahead in a fortnight.

Lucy's sleep apnoea causes her breathing to stop and start when she is asleep and she requires a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine every night to give her the oxygen she needs, her mother Victoria said.

The teenager also has enlarged tonsils and adenoids - small lumps of tissue at the back of the throat behind the nose - which can cause respiratory problems for children.

Victoria said: "It's very important that she has them [her tonsils] taken out because you can hear her struggling to breathe, because they're literally blocking up the airways."

After the tonsillitis meant the first surgery could not go ahead, Lucy was asked back on 30 December, only to be told there was no space.

"It was cancelled because there were no beds in HDU [the high dependency unit]," Victoria said.

'Horrible'

Over the next five weeks, they were told there were no beds on three further occasions.

"[We feel] very, very frustrated," Victoria said. "It's been a nightmare.

"She's had to miss quite a lot of school because she's not been well."

On all but one occasion, Lucy had not eaten for hours to prepare for the procedure only for it to be called off at short notice.

"We've had to watch Lucy psychologically prepare herself, because she is anxious," said Victoria.

"This makes her even more anxious, and we have to witness this, and it's horrible."

The family have also been speaking to doctors at another hospital about a cyst on Lucy's brain.

"It just seems to be like one thing after another at the moment," Victoria said.

The family said they did not know what impact the cyst was having on Lucy, but she had been very tired after school.

"I hate seeing her like this, I really do," Victoria added.

The hospital trust's medical director Andrew Furlong said: "We apologise for the continued delay in treatment and the distress this has caused.

"The operation has been rescheduled for the earliest available date this month.

"Our Patient Advice and Liaison Service have engaged with the family and can support if they have any further questions or concerns."

Lucy is now set to undergo surgery in two weeks.