ONE of two patients whose operation was cancelled yesterday at Colchester General Hospital faces another month of uncertainty as she waits for a third date for a hip replacement.

Silvana Schiavi's was turned away from the hospital after NHS trusts were forced to cancel all non-urgent planned operations and close outpatients clinics.

As of midday yesterday, just two patients were affected and all urgent and cancer operations will continue to go ahead.

This is the second time Mrs Schiavi, 52, has experienced this due to unprecedented pressure on A&E admissions.

She said: "I've been bedridden since May 2017 when I was diagnosed with septic arthritis. The cement hip operation I had was only temporary and I'm not allowed to put weight on it.

"It's not only affecting me but my husband and daughter, who was promised she'd get her mum back, but our lives are on hold at the moment.

"What do I say to her?"

Mrs Schiavi, of Sible Hedingham, left her full-time job as a nursery nurse and is in chronic pain.

The strain caused by waiting for a date, plus the financial toll on her family, has led to clinical depression.

She added: "It's a massive change of lifestyle and it's awful. People ask how I stay indoors all day but I've got to keep going.

"I'm relying on my 16-year-old daughter and husband, who's working stupid hours because we don't have my income anymore.

"I can understand what the hospitals are experiencing, but they've had since May to slot me in.

"Winter is always like this so why leave it until now?

"There's people out there just like me but enough is enough - who do I put the blame to?

"Is it the doctors, consultants, Jeremy Hunt - where does it sit in the pecking order?"

Unlike other trusts which reached a maximum state of emergency, Colchester General Hospital was operating at escalation level three out of four.

This means the hospital faced continuing major pressures which compromised patient flow.

But 86 per cent of A&E admissions were seen within the four-hour target.

Managing director, Neill Moloney, said: “We continue to be very busy but are coping well.

"We'd like to thank all of our communities for their support and help as we get through the coming days.”

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt apologised to affected patients and thanked NHS staff working tirelessly at what he described as the "busiest week of the year".

It is likely the temporary block on non-urgent operations will be in place until mid-January.

Gazette:

AMBULANCE CREWS WAIT WITH PATIENTS FOR OVER AN HOUR

TAXIS were used to ferry non-emergency patients to hospital in a desperate attempt to free up ambulance crews.

The East of England Ambulance Service confirmed 13 patients between December 30 and January 1 were driven to hospital in taxis as demand on services reached its peak.

A spokesperson said: "These were for low acuity calls where specialist clinical care was not needed during the journey.

"This enabled us to free up crews to attend more serious or life-threatening incidents during very high demand on the service.”

On Tuesday night, NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh, ordered trusts to close outpatient clinics as they declared a maximum state of emergency.

As of New Year's Eve, the ambulance service had moved to resource escalation action plan (REAP) level four - the highest it can be.

The spokesperson added: “In the last four days, we have experienced nearly 500 hospital handovers that exceed one hour or more.

"On December 31, we received more than 4,100 calls across the region and more than 4,800 calls on January 1 – a 12 per cent increase on January 1 2017. 

"To put this into context, our average daily volume of calls is about 3,000 calls a day."