A patient waiting nine months for surgery thanked The Argus for stepping in when her operation was cancelled at the last minute.

June Hornsbury burst into tears when she was told her gall bladder operation scheduled to take place yesterday, had been called off.

But shortly after The Argus contacted the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Mrs Hornsbury was offered the chance to have the operation at a private hospital instead.

Mrs Hornsbury, 45, agreed and surgery at the Nuffield Hospital in Hove, has been booked in for next Wednesday.

She said: "I would like to say thank you to The Argus for its help. I can't believe there has been all this messing around just to get this operation done.

"I phoned to check on Sunday the operation was still going to go ahead and then I was told there were no beds available.

"The surgeon who was going to do my operation was fully booked for at least another three weeks so I was probably looking at another month of uncertainty.

"Because of my condition, I have to stick to low fat foods and watch my diet because rich food can trigger off a lot of pain.

"I was very careful all through Christmas and new year so I would be fit enough for the operation and then it gets called off.

"I just want to get everything over and done with and put it all behind me."

Mrs Hornsbury's problems began last spring when she developed a painful infection and doctors discovered she had about 30 tiny stones in her gall bladder.

She was told an operation would be done as soon as possible but heard nothing for two months and then fell ill again with cystisis and jaundice.

An appointment was made for her to have a procedure called ERCP, which involves passing a tube down the throat and into the stomach so surgeons can see what is happening inside. This was cancelled three times before finally being carried out at the end of September.

Mrs Hornsbury, from Portslade, became ill again in the middle of November and was readmitted to hospital where she was told an operation would be carried out on November 25.

But this was called off and she was told she would have to wait until January 6.

Hospitals are traditionally busy immediately after the festive period as patients often wait until after the holiday to visit their GP or look for treatment.

The recent icy weather also increased the number of patients visiting the accident and emergency department.

A hospital spokesman said:

"We are sorry Mrs Hornsbury had her operation cancelled and we have now made alternative arrangements for her.

"The day before the operation the hospital had been extremely busy and the only beds that were available were taken up with patients who needed more urgent treatment.

"When an operation is cancelled, there are procedures that are gone through and in Mrs Hornsbury's case, the offer was made to have the operation done by a different consultant at a private hospital."

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is working on several new measures aimed at avoiding similar cases.

Ongoing plans include investigating the possibility of opening more beds at Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, and sending some Brighton and Hove patients there.

A pilot scheme launched in two departments last year involved "ring-fencing" beds so they would be used for nonemergency operations only.

This has been a success with the number of cancelled operations dropping and investigations are now in hand to discover whether it can be extended to other departments.