A man has shared his outrage after his 90-year-old mum's hospital appointment was cancelled due to the Queen's funeral.
Urgent NHS appointments have been scrapped due to a newly scheduled bank holiday on Monday (September 19), when the late monarch will be laid to rest. The sudden cancellations have caused anger among those in need - with many having already waited weeks to be seen due to long waiting lists.
Paul Patrick, 67, is furious after his mum, Ida, was left in tears when she received a phone call yesterday afternoon to say her hospital appointment had been cancelled. Paul was due to take her to Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham on Monday for a follow-up after her recent hospital stay - where doctors had been very concerned about her health.
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She has now had the appointment cancelled and not rescheduled, leaving her distraught and her son, Paul, livid. Retired headteacher Paul - who lives in Belfast - said: "My ma is very upset and I’m incandescent with rage.
"Ma was admitted to hospital a few weeks back. They were very worried about her because she was losing weight and was dehydrated, so they had quite a quick follow-up for her on Monday.
"She's been worrying about it for a long time. On Monday [September 12], I tried to phone to see if it was still going ahead, and yesterday, I was on the phone for 85 minutes waiting to get through and all they could say was they weren't sure if it was being cancelled.
"Ma was in a right state and then they phoned yesterday afternoon to say it was cancelled and they don't know when it will be. She's not in good health, she's 90, she's very, very frail, and not in a good frame of mind. My father died two years ago so she's still mourning him too.
"It's been traumatic for her. I'm not a monarchist, but my mother is, and I just think it's appalling. These are vulnerable people and those appointments should be going ahead. I have friends who have cancer appointments cancelled for next Monday too.
"It's about respect for people like my mother who have paid in all their lives and like the Royal family, yet they're the victims on Monday. This is not respecting my mother - this is cancelling everything for protocol and there's nothing that says that vulnerable people should suffer because of the protocol for a new King and the burial of a Queen."
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