A TODDLER who had an operation to remove his tonsils cancelled at the last minute due to a communication breakdown, has finally had them removed.

Two-year-old Harvey McGlown was about to be anaesthesised ready for the operation at the end of February, when staff at Colchester General Hospital realised the family were also waiting for the results of an EEG after Harvey had suffered unexplained fits.

Parents Martin McGlown and his wife Emmi Ketley were furious because they said the EEG had been ordered two weeks before and while they understood why the operation could not go ahead, they were astounded it had taken so long for them to realise.

The situation left them concerned for Harvey as his tonsils were so enlarged it caused him major breathing problems at night when he went to sleep.

But the family were left with no choice but to wait for the results of the EEG before Harvey could have his operation.

Last month, when the Gazette reported the family's situation, Dr Marion Wood, Medical Director of Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust which runs the hospital, said she could "only apologise" for the distress that must have been caused "by the breakdown in communication."

The hospital also offered to monitor Harvey over that weekend and two weeks ago an EEG was carried out.

On Monday the tonsillectomy was carried out at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London after doctors in Colchester decided he needed high-dependency care.

He is now recovering at home in Old Ferry Road, Wivenhoe.