Pensioner Jean Heaven found out the hard way that trying to help yourself doesn't always pay.

Facing a wait: Jean Heaven, of Haxby, who had a private operation on her left eye and now finds herself at the back of the queue for an operation on the other. Picture: David Harrison

The cataracts in 72-year-old Jean's eyes were getting so bad that she kept falling over and stumbling into things.

She was already on York District Hospital's waiting list for surgery, but to save herself waiting up to a year she and her husband, Stanley, decided to spend £1,850 of their savings on a private operation for one eye - leaving the other to be done on the NHS.

The operation at York's Purey Cust hospital was carried out by the same district hospital surgeon who would have treated her anyway.

It was a success, and Jean, of Usher Lane, Haxby, says being able to see out of her left eye again is like a "miracle".

But when, a few months later, she rang to check when her right eye would be done, she says she was told she'd gone to the back of the queue - because she could now see again.

Jean, a keen walker and supporter of the York Coronary Support Group, said: "I feel just like a load of dust that's been swept under the carpet until a vacuum turns up.

"I worked for years, I paid my national insurance contributions all my life. I just feel a mug."

Jean originally went to see a specialist at the district hospital last autumn after being advised to seek help by her optician. She was put on a waiting list.

Now she says she can see long distance quite well, and by squinting can read things very close up - but anything in between is a blur.

Susan Acott, York District Hospital's general manager for surgical services, admitted that once Jean had had the operation in one eye, she became less of a priority.

That would have been the case even if she had had the first eye done on the NHS.

Patients almost never had both eyes operated on together because of the risk of cross-infection.

She said: "If you've had one eye done, then the need for the second eye is much much less. In a sense your vision is not just 50 per cent better than someone with cataracts in both eyes, it's 100 per cent better."

She said the hospital would be open to criticism if it was seen to be 'fast-tracking' patients for a second operation who had chosen to go private for the first. But she added despite being told she was now at the back of the queue Mrs Heaven could still expect to have the second operation by this autumn - and possibly even earlier if a cancellation came up.

But James Player, of charity Age Concern, said today he was 'greatly concerned' at the length of time older people like Jean were having to wait.

He said: "We need to look at the whole issue of how older people are being treated in hospital to ensure that they are getting a fair crack of the whip.

"It's not just a question of the quality of life, it can also be a matter of personal safety."

see COMMENT 'Elderly deserve better than this'

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