Woman's despair after cancer surgery cancelled

Elaine Lawrence had tried to remain positive before her operation but said her "confidence had been completely knocked"

A grandmother with kidney cancer said she had been "knocked for six" after her operation was among hundreds cancelled amid a hospital's critical shortage of surgical equipment.

Elaine Lawrence, 71, said her cancer is at stage three and is contained in her kidney, which needs to be completely removed to prevent it from spreading.

The operation, scheduled for Wednesday 22 October at Arrowe Park Hospital in Birkenhead, was cancelled the day before with no explanation given and no new date confirmed.

Mrs Lawrence, from Wirral, told the BBC communication from the hospital had been "disgraceful" and added: "I just feel completely knocked now, I've lost all that confidence that I had."

The BBC reported last week how technical issues in Arrowe Park’s sterilisation unit had led to a backlog and then a critical shortage of surgical instruments - which Mrs Lawrence said was the first time she learned the full story.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Arrowe Park, cancelled all elective procedures to preserve what equipment was available for emergency surgery.

A critical incident was declared on Tuesday 21 October and remains in place, with the trust seeking mutual aid and equipment from other hospitals.

A trust spokesman said a "detailed recovery plan" was underway, which included the phased return of surgical services.

He said: "We are very sorry that this situation has caused concern for some of our patients, waiting for surgery.

"We fully understand how worrying this is and are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore services."

Mrs Lawrence recently became a grandmother for the second time

Mrs Lawrence, from Saughall Massie, said she had been diagnosed in September after a scan found a mass on her kidney.

Her surgery had initially been scheduled for 16 October, but was delayed by a week by hospital admin staff.

She said: "I had two sisters who passed away from cancer - one at 48 and one at 52 - so mentioning cancer in the family is quite a thing really.

"But I've got an opportunity for my cancer to be removed and therefore cured which my two sisters didn't have, so I've focused on that as a real positive."

Mrs Lawrence, who became a grandmother for the second time in recent weeks, said she was packing a bag ready for her surgery the next day when she received a letter saying "it had been necessary" to cancel her procedure.

She also received a phone call from staff at the hospital, who apologised but could give no indication of when her surgery would be rebooked and did not say why.

Since then she has called the hospital for updates but was told no new information was available, although she was assured senior managers were having "meetings every day".

"Nobody's telling us anything and I just think it's disgraceful", she said.

A problem with machinery used to sterilise surgical instruments has led to hundreds of appointments being cancelled

Mrs Lawrence said she knows of other cancer patients in more serious situations than her own, and said the delays could be "a matter of surviving or not surviving".

Speaking of her own situation, she said: "It's a major operation, and especially at my age.

"I've been told that I've been so positive, which I've tried to be, but when this happened last week and I heard the reasons why and then no further information given, it's really knocked me and I'm struggling now."

She told the BBC her biggest fear is that her tumour develops into a stage 4 cancer, meaning it spreads to other organs.

"I won't know that because I won't have any more investigation now until I have my operation", she said.

"So you know that that is worrying."

Arrowe Park confirmed it was diverting patients to other hospitals where possible and still performing emergency surgeries.

A statement on its website read: "Unfortunately multiple operations have been postponed so we can focus our resource on urgent and emergency procedures. The Trust is contacting all patients that are impacted.

"We are grateful to our staff for their hard work during this time, to neighbouring Trusts for their support, and to our patients and the public for their understanding."