A botched procedure at an Edinburgh hospital has left a patient waiting more than a year for corrective surgery.
Margaret Simon was left in intensive care with a perforated colon as a result of a blundered colonoscopy at the city's Western General in July 2018.
The 72-year-old was forced to have part of her bowl removed at which point it become necessary for a stoma bag to be fitted.
The Daily Record reports Margaret has been sitting on the operation waiting list to have the stoma removed for more than 15 months.
When the retired civil servant from Corstorphine come round from the initial operation, she was shocked by what had happend.
She said: “I had no idea what had happened to me and a nurse had to tell me I had a stoma bag. I was upset.”
When she saw the surgeon in November that year, he reassured her that the stoma would be reversed.
Margaret, who runs a B&B with her husband John, had a pre-op meeting in December 2018.
She was told the operation would take place in January or February of last year. The treatment time guarantee of 12 weeks means it should have been done by March 11 last year at the latest.
She is still waiting for surgery and needs to regularly change her stoma bag, which has caused huge disruption to her life. She stopped swimming and the bag shows through some clothes. She won’t travel far in case an appointment comes in and cancelled a holiday to Italy.
Margaret said: “We have phoned the hospital every month and keep getting told, ‘You are not on this month’s list.’”
By the end of last year, Margaret was told she was now on the emergency list.
She said: “I have been waiting a long time and I am just not getting anywhere.”
Lib Dem health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Considering an NHS procedure caused the injury, you would think that would have elevated her to the front of the queue.
“But not only has her waiting time guarantee been breached, we have left a woman waiting on tenterhooks with a stoma bag while she waits indefinitely for this corrective surgery.”
Dr Tracey Gillies, medical director of NHS Lothian, said: “We apologise to Ms Simson for the complications in her procedure and having to wait longer than she should have for her second operation.
“We prioritise patients depending on the urgency of their condition which means some patients wait longer.”
