Cancelled op prolongs woman's pain

A GRIEVING widow was seconds away from being anaesthetised and wheeled into theatre when she was told her operation was cancelled.

Pauline Vuyk, of Van Diemans Road, Chelmsford, was looking forward to feeling like “a new person” before her operation to remove three kidney stones was called off at the last minute because of an equipment fault.

The 60-year-old petrol station worker, who has suffered with the painful stones on and off for six years, had been referred to a specialist at Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford, as an urgent case and was due to have an operation on Friday (OCT7).

“I was thinking today’s the day I’m going to be out of pain,” she said.

“I was in theatre laying on a trolley, they put me on a heart monitor and a needle was put in the back of my hand ready for the anaesthetic.

“A woman came out and I thought ‘this is it’ only to be told my operation was cancelled, it was like a smack in the face.”

The bad news was a double snub for Pauline, who is still coming to terms with the death of her husband two years ago, as she had an identical procedure cancelled in 2007.

She added: “I just sit and cry sometimes when I think what I’m going through yet again.

“It’s not acceptable, they can afford to have the hospital done up looking glamorous but can’t have equipment ready for an urgent case.”

Jo Triggs, spokeswoman for the Mid Essex Hospital Trust, which runs Broomfield, said: “The Trust would like to apologise to Mrs Vuyk for cancelling her procedure at short notice, but this was due to an unforeseeable problem with the laser machine.

“Stringent safety procedures are followed when using this machine so after the problem was discovered an immediate decision was taken not to use it until it was safe to do so. The problem has been rectified and all patient appointments are being rescheduled.”