A TERMINALLY ill woman was left in “screaming agony” after a routine operation was delayed five times.

Kim Coomber, 60, of Ovingdean, has terminal bone cancer.

After breaking her arm in a fall she was taken to hospital to await an operation to put a pin in the broken bone.

But her family have told of the pain and anguish she was forced to endure after the simple operation at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton was delayed for five days in a row.

Kim’s sister Sylvia George, 67, of Woodingdean, said: “My sister was left in constant pain because of these delays.

“This should have been a simple 20-minute operation, but it was continuously deferred.

“Each morning she was put on nil by mouth and each afternoon she was told she would have to wait another day. It was very traumatic for her.

“She was in so much pain, it was really hard to see her suffering like that when all that was needed to solve that particular problem was for a pin to be put in her arm.”

Ms Coomber broke her arm on Wednesday, October 3, and was then forced to wait two days for an X-ray.

She was initially scheduled for an operation on Saturday, October 6, but this was then delayed until the Sunday, the first in a string of five successive deferrals.

The operation was eventually carried out on Thursday last week after more than a week of what Ms Coomber described as “screaming agony”.

Ms George told The Argus she believed delays for simple operations like her sister’s were widespread and were causing patients to suffer. She said: “They leave the in-patients in severe pain. How many other people are in the same position?

“We got Kim her operation eventually, but we had to fight tooth and nail to get it done.

“We even had to get our case flagged for the chief executive and it was only after this that they were finally able to get something done.

“The reason we’re causing a fuss about this is because there must be thousands of other people in similar positions who are being made to suffer because of these delays.

“Kim wants to die at home, not in a hospital, but this has threatened her ability to do that.”

Caroline Davies, Nurse Director for Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals said:

“I am very sorry Ms Coomber had to wait for her operation and would like to apologise to her for the delay.

"I know postponing surgery is upsetting for patients and their families and we never take this decision lightly.

"Unfortunately last week the hospital was caring for a large number of emergency patients who urgently needed surgery which meant regrettably we had to rearrange her operation.

"We will continue to do everything we can to care for Ms Coomber and give her and her family the support they need.”