A MALVERN woman who waited six months for a routine procedure at Worcestershire Royal Hospital said her appointment was postponed due to a trolley shortage.

Wendy White has written to West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer after she went to the hospital for a colonoscopy but was told her appointment would have to be rearranged.

"I had to take a horrible mixture 24 hours beforehand and had the day off work to get in there. I got myself all geared up and it's been for nothing," she said.

"I'm just amazed a fairly new hospital hasn't got enough trolleys."

In November, when the hospital first informed Mrs White she needed a colonoscopy, she was told she would only have to wait six weeks if she was prepared to travel to Evesham for the operation.

This never happened and on Tuesday (June 28), six months later, she waited half an hour at Worcestershire Royal Hospital before she and other patients needing routine operations were turned away.

Mrs White said her consultant told her a lack of trolleys meant he had to prioritise patients and make sure the most serious cases were investigated first.

"I felt sorry for the consultant. He shouldn't have to tell people they can't do a procedure because there aren't enough trolleys. It's appalling," she said.

Janet-Marie Clark, spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said Mrs White's operation was cancelled due to a shortage of beds, not trolleys.

"The trust is reluctant to cancel operations at any time," she said. "There are occasions when clinical or capacity issues mean it would be necessary to do so. We regret Mrs White was put to any inconvenience."