Devon nurse in passport panic to see gravely ill father

Gina Teague says her ill father in Trinidad has been given only weeks to live

A nurse in Devon says she is running out of time to see her gravely ill father in Trinidad.

Gina Teague, who works at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, started applying for UK passports for three of her children in April.

She said she desperately wanted her children to see their grandfather, who has been given three weeks to live.

The Passport Office said 98.5% of applications between March and May were completed within 10 weeks.

'Catch 22 situation'

Mrs Teague said she had been going round in circles trying to secure travel documents for her children, aged 10, eight and seven.

The 44 year old said: "My father is gravely ill. I've been told he's got roughly three weeks left. I'm beginning to panic."

She added: "He is asking for me, he is asking for his grandchildren, and I think that's the urgency; and I feel like I'm running out of time."

Mrs Teague said that, despite starting the application process in April, only one of the passports had been successfully issued.

She said: "I think I've been passed from pillar to post with the same answers: 'Oh, we'll look into it,' or: 'Oh, you need to send the documents.'

"Well, I have sent it and it has been confirmed that you have received it, and so it's just become a Catch 22 now."

A Catch 22 situation, taken from the title of the novel by Joseph Keller, describes a situation where a person can be trapped and controlled by bureaucracy and rules in a circular logic.

The nurse has extended her maternity leave while she holding out hope of seeing her father one more time.

In a statement, HM Passport Office said it had processed about three million passports between March and May, with 98.5% of applications completed within 10 weeks.

It continued: "But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling."