A 14-year-old girl suffering from tumours on her face has been forced to wait for an operation to remove them after it was repeatedly cancelled due to doctors’ strikes and a lack of beds . Phoebe Weston suffers from a genetic condition, neurofibromatosis, which causes non-cancerous tumours on the outside of her body and has been waiting for a second round of surgery to remove the remaining growths and excess skin since October. Her first operation at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital was cancelled twice, just days ahead of the junior doctors’ strike last July and a second time in September due to a lack of NHS beds.
The family has not been given a new date for the latest operation and she is unable to have specialist medication to prevent further tumours until it’s carried out. The longer the surgery is delayed the more tumours may grow. Her father Iain Weston, 57, made a plea to the British Medical Association and incoming government to “sort it out” and “stop playing games” as he fears future strikes will lead to more delays.
He also said the NHS must communicate better with patients who are facing delays. Have you been affected by the doctors’ strikes? Email rebecca.thomas@independent.
co.uk Speaking with The Independent , Mr Weston, said it was heartbreaking to watch his daughter wait for an operation as she faced a difficult time in school. “Preventing anyone from receiving treatment is cruel and especially children,” he said.
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