Patient left stranded and in pain

GLYN Rees is in agony. The 51-year-old is recovering from throat cancer and should have started treatment for pain relief at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport six weeks ago.

But he is without the transport he needs to get him there. The ambulance service is unable to take him from his home in St Helen's Road, Swansea, and he cannot drive because he is on morphine to ease the pain.

"I was diagnosed with throat cancer five years ago and now I have found out that radiotherapy used to treat me has damaged the blood supply on the left side of my face," he said.

"My jaw is crumbling and my teeth are coming out."

Mr Rees said that although he was taking the maximum dose of morphine, he was still in agony.

Doctors have offered him oxygen therapy in Newport, which will allow him to have an operation to reconstruct his jaw bone.

But while he has secured the funding for the treatment, he has not been able to get any transport. "I applied to the Welsh Office for a grant for the treatment and I got one," he said.

"Staff at the Royal Gwent Newport then phoned me in early October to say they were able to do a pre-medical on October 17 before my treatment could start on October 20.

"But then next thing Morriston Hospital phoned me up and said the ambulance service was refusing to take me down to Newport."

More than six weeks later Mr Rees, whose cancer is in remission, is still waiting for the go-ahead for his transport plans.

"We are not getting a response," he said.

"I can see no end to it, I am suffering unnecessarily. If I lose any more of my strength, I will not be able to look after myself.

"I can only eat what I can put on a spoon and can put at the back of my mouth."

His elderly father, Herbert Rees, from Dunvant, said his son's condition was deteriorating.

"The hospital in Newport is ready to receive him, but as he is on morphine he can't drive," he said. "He can't eat or drink. He is not in pain — he is in agony. He lives on his own and I can't see him looking after himself.

"I just want a bit of light at the end of the tunnel."

A spokeswoman from ABM University NHS Trust said: "Oxygen therapy is provided in Newport and the service is funded by Health Commission Wales (HCW). However, HCW does not cover patients' travelling costs and there is no agreement with the ambulance service to take patients to Newport. Hospital trusts reimburse travelling costs for patients when there is a clinical or medical need and the patient is on benefit. If we do provide transport, we would need to look into the most cost-effective method."