Addenbrooke's Hospital kidney operation cancelled

Retired nurse Roxan Stephens said sympathises with the pressure hospital staff are under

A woman who has waited nearly two years to have a dead kidney removed has had her NHS operation cancelled the day before it was due to take place.

Roxan Stephens, 65, was referred for the surgery in December 2019.

She was due to have an operation at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge on Wednesday, but it was cancelled, just after the trust closed 100 beds due to anti-Covid measures.

The government said it had made "record investment" to tackle the NHS backlog.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), which runs Addenbrooke's, has had to cancel some routine operations as it cares for about 60 patients with Covid-19.

The trust confirmed earlier this week it had closed about 100 of its 1,000 beds "to decrease the risk of infection" from coronavirus.

Ms Stephens, from Witchford near Ely, said: "I don't want to come across as whining, I know it's not life-threatening, but I've been waiting patiently and in discomfort all this time."

The retired nurse discovered she had sepsis when she was admitted to Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon in September 2019.

The urology team at Peterborough City Hospital then put in a kidney and bladder stent to drain fluid and an X-ray confirmed the kidney had died.

Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge has closed beds and is dealing with staff shortages due to Covid-19

Ms Stephens said: "My consultant at Peterborough referred me to Addenbrooke's in early 2020 for emergency surgery to remove the kidney - but then the pandemic struck."

She said she expected a wait for the operation, but it was disappointing that after finally getting a date, it was cancelled.

She said she complained to the hospital's Patient Advice and Liaison Service and "they explained they were inundated and of course oncology comes first".

"And I'm not criticising Addenbrooke's as I'm well aware of the pressures they're under with 400 staff off ill," said Ms Stephens.

"But it's time the government introduced its Plan B measures to tackle the Covid spike."

In a statement, a CUH spokesman said: "Due to a recent rise in patients with Covid being treated at Addenbrooke's, the hospital is under extreme pressure and is calling for all those in our community to pull together to try and reduce infection rates.

"We are managing the needs of Covid patients while striving to deliver surgical, outpatients, diagnostic and emergency care at the same rate or even higher than before Covid-19."

'Record investment'

The government said it knew the coming months would be challenging "which is exactly why we set out our Covid Plan for autumn and winter", which included the "largest ever" seasonal flu vaccination programme as well as Covid-19 booster jabs.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "We are monitoring all the data closely, and the prime minister has been clear that it does not yet show that Plan B is necessary.

"Our record investment is helping to tackle the backlog and recover NHS services with an extra £2bn this year, plus £8bn more over the next three years to deliver an extra nine million checks, scans, and operations for patients across the country.

"This on top of our previous historic long-term settlement for the NHS, which will see NHS funding increase by £33.9 billion by 2023-24."