Surgery delays 'an NHS scandal'

But the independent MP has stressed the situation has not been created by Worcestershire Health Authority, and says it demonstrates the "national scandal" of funding for the country's health services.

Dr Taylor made the comment after a front page story in last Friday's Evening News.

It highlighted the case of Gail Latham who had been forced to take out a £15,000 loan for a life-saving operation for her dad George.

Two weeks ago, the devoted daughter raised her concerns about the county's health crises on GMTV after her father was told he was facing a nine-month wait for his quadruple heart bypass.

Mr Latham, of Chaddesley Corbett, near Kidderminster, was due to have his operation at The Priory in Birmingham on Saturday, and has vowed to sell his home next year to repay his daughter.

"The list is divided into routine and urgent patients," said Dr Taylor.

"Inevitably there are emergency patients but these aren't included as they are operated on as soon as possible. Every emergency means one less case can be operated upon from the urgent waiting list because of limited resources."

The MP added that, because of a lack of funding, urgent cases were having to wait months, where they got worse and were then treated as an emergency or even died while waiting.

He said as patients could only be listed by cardiac surgeons, he had told Mr Latham - one of his constituents - to speak to his GP to see if he could be treated as an emergency.

But he questioned why £13.7m of Government money was being "wasted on lavish and arguably unnecessary re-structuring" of Kidderminster General Hospital's newest block, when half that could buy 500 cardiac operations in private hospitals.

"This isn't the fault of the Worcestershire Health Authority. Indeed, the authority pays for some emergency operations to be conducted in private hospitals," he added.

"It shows the national scandal of health service funding."