HEALTH bosses have apologised to a Hereford County Hospital patient who had her appointment postponed.

Talgarth’s Lynne Groves has been waiting several months to find out the cause of the pain in her feet.

Mrs Groves, who runs a bed and breakfast in the town near Hay-on-Wye with her husband Stephen, said GPs have not been able to identify the cause of her pain and she was referred to a specialist.

“Nobody knows what’s wrong with my feet but I’m in pain constantly” she said.

“One doctor thought it was tendonitis because the pain was on the side and back of my feet.

“Then the painkillers they gave me weren’t working and then they said it wasn’t tendonitis it was just the way I was walking.

“But I want answers of what the problem is and if they can do something for me.

“I don’t want to live for the rest of my life with pain in my feet every day.”

Mrs Groves was initially referred to the county hospital three months after she visited her GP.

“The first appointment was for September 4. That was cancelled, and I was given a date for October 30, but that was cancelled until January,” she said.

Mr Groves complained about the situation and got an appointment for his wife this month.

“When I was talking to the lady in charge, she said there is this sort of mishmash system between Wales and England,” he said.

“Because the doctors’ surgery is partly in Wales and partly in England they don’t have a link up in communication between the computers.”

A Wye Valley NHS Trust spokesperson said: “There are a number of legitimate reasons why outpatient appointments can be postponed.

“However, in this case it would appear that decisions were made outside of the trust’s normal processes.

“The trust has apologised and is looking into the circumstances of the cancellations.”