A DISTRESSED mother is on tenterhooks for her hysterectomy today after it was cancelled for the third time in three months.

Alison Cobb, of Wheatmill Close, Blakedown, was aghast to have her operation put off at the last minute last Thursday due to a lack of beds at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

She has been allocated a slot for today but fears a repeat scenario of last Thursday's debacle.

She said as the Shuttle/Times and News went to press: "I'm dreading getting another phone call to say the operation has been cancelled.

"When I got the news last Thursday I just broke down and cried. I had been psyching myself up for this for so long. Alison Cobb, pictured with husband Duncan, is due to have a hysterectomy today.

"I thought it would have all been over months ago - this year has been dreadful. I just the dread the pain that will come with my next period. It is like being stabbed in the stomach - I'm in extreme pain for a week."

Mrs Cobb, 32, who has a nine-year-old son Luke, was first scheduled for an operation in June but the surgeon was on study leave. He then sprained his wrist before her July operation.

Last Thursday a rush of emergencies at the hospital meant a hat-trick of operation woe.

She has suffered from endometriosis, when the tissue that usually lines the womb grows outside, for seven years.

Wyre Forest MP Dr Richard Taylor said her plight was typical of many letters he was receiving from constituents.

He said: "They indicate the frequency of cancellations and the inadequacy of beds. They describe the pain they are going through - it is totally unacceptable."

Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust, which commissions district healthcare, said it would investigate the matter.

Chief executive Peter Forrester said: "We are always very concerned if an operation is cancelled. If Mrs Cobb contacts us we will take up her case.

"However, across the county, elective operation cancellations are going down."

This was confirmed by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Communications chief Richard Haynes said in July 46 out of 3,000 elective operations were cancelled.

Last month the figure dropped to 17 out of 2,600. So far this month 11 out of 1,200 have been cancelled.

He revealed pressure on beds was the third highest factor for cancellations behind the patient not attending and being unfit for surgery.

He said: "Cancellations are not an exact science. We can't predict what the trend will be because it is dependent on factors such as emergency admissions but we are doing everything we can to deal with the caseload."

He added: "Regrettably we had to cancel Mrs Cobb's operation because of a sudden influx of emergency patients but we were able to give her an alternative date on the same day.

"Our view is one cancelled operation is one too many and we appreciate the distress it can cause to the patient both mentally and physically."