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A daughter has slammed the treatment of her 72-year-old mum – after having an operation to remove her brain tumour cancelled twice. Disabled Mary Clews was diagnosed with the benign brain tumour on August 21 after she went to A&E following two seizures.
But despite being admitted to the Royal Stoke University Hospital and prepped for scheduled operations on both September 8 and September 22, Mary’s procedure was cancelled at the last minute on both occasions. It has now been rescheduled for October 13.
Daughter Lucy Clews says she has seen a visible deterioration in her mum’s health as she waits for the life-saving operation. She has called the treatment of her mum – who has severe spinal disabilities – a ‘scandal’.
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Lucy, aged 34, from Newchapel, said: “My mum has been due to have this operation as she has a benign tumour in her brain at the back of her head and after the surgery there can be a lot of swelling so she needs a critical care bed to go into after the surgery.
“She was due to have the operation on September 8 and she was prepped and ready for surgery, but at the last minute she was told that the surgery was cancelled as there was no longer a critical care bed available anymore due to an emergency.
“This has happened twice now, just before she goes down the operation is cancelled. She’s a disabled lady who lives on her own and it’s getting ridiculous, it’s a lot of stress for her and the family.
“We’ve been given a third date now, but that’s more than two weeks away. She’s been on steroids for a month now and she’s starting to get ulcers, but she’s got to wait another three weeks for the operation.
“It’s a life-saving operation and they’ve admitted that themselves. The tumour is very large, they suggested it has been growing for decades and it’s now putting pressure on her brain and she’s getting headaches. She’s confused and the tumour is making her forget words.
“She was diagnosed with the tumour after having two seizures and she’s now at risk of more seizures and strokes. But it seems that because her tumour isn’t cancerous, she’s just getting pushed to the bottom of the list.
“Even when she goes in for the operation in October, we don’t know if it will go ahead as she could just be sent home again. It has been appalling.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s not care, she’s not being cared for, she’s just being left and left and left until something will happen and she’ll just die. But then she’s one less person in the queue, that’s how it feels anyway.”
Lucy has complained to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) about her mum’s treatment.
The mum-of-one added: “We’ve sent a complaint through PALS. The hospital staff seem to think that cancelled operations are a regular occurrence when we speak to them. There must be a lot of people that this is happening to.
“It’s not the nursing staff or the doctors, it’s the management. They seem to think that having life-saving surgery cancelled twice is a common event and it shouldn’t be.
“I’m worried every day as we don’t know what is going to happen. I’m worried that a time will come when she can’t have the surgery because she’s not well enough or she could have a seizure or stroke and die before she has the operation.
“Everybody’s life is on hold while we wait to see the outcome of this operation and it feels like it’s never coming. How many times we are to be put through this torture before she finally has the surgery I am not sure.”
Lucy added: “It is a scandal. I understand that the NHS is under strain but to cancel a brain tumour operation twice and risk my mum’s death is beyond my comprehension. The consultant seems to be doing his best for her but his hands are tied by whoever it is that decides in that hospital who can live and who is left to die.”
The Royal Stoke is aware of the family’s complaint.
Medical director Dr Matthew Lewis said: “Services at University Hospitals of North Midlands have been under extreme pressure and 22 September was particularly challenged. We will always do everything we can to avoid planned operations being postponed at short notice and would like to apologise to Mrs Clews if her experience has fallen short of the excellence we strive for. Mrs Clews was given a thorough examination and assessment and a new date for her procedure has been arranged.”
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