A woman has had a vital operation cancelled SIX times in three weeks.

Sheila Stedman, 63, needed an operation on a hernia and colon at Colchester General Hospital.

But the operation was repeatedly cancelled, a total of six times in three weeks.

A Health spokesman put the delay down to a lack of intensive care beds which Mrs Stedman would need after her operation.

Mrs Stedman's husband Dennis, of Colchester Road, Holland-on-Sea, said: "You can expect it once or twice but not six times.

"I was in one day and they said they had cancelled four operations to help her and when I rang through I was told there were no beds.

"When her abcess burst she waited three and a half hours in a wheelchair to get from Clacton to Colchester.

"Nurses had to call 999 to get her to Colchester. It's unbelievable."

Mrs Stedman finally went in for her operation yesterday afternoon and is now recovering in the intensive care unit.

A spokesman for Essex Rivers Healthcare Trust today said they sympathised with Mrs Stedman's situation but said the reason for the delay had been a lack of intensive care beds.

He said this situation changed on a day-to-day basis due to possible use in emergencies. The spokesman added "The situation was explained to Mrs Stedman and her husband. The trust believed she understood the situation."

Meanwhile another patient, Roger Youngs, 61, of Windsor Avenue, Clacton, is still waiting for a check-up after his appointment at Clacton Hospital was cancelled three times.

Mr Youngs, a diabetic, said the bladder operation he had had not solved his problems and he was still waiting for a check-up eight months after seeing his doctor.

The Trust spokesman said the delay was due to a number of factors including the consultant leaving the health authority and a backlog of work.

He added: "We are working hard and have put an extra urology clinic in Clacton."

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