A PATIENT spent the festive season at her wits end after waiting almost three weeks for an appointment with the breast clinic at Weston General Hospital.

A PATIENT spent the festive season at her 'wits end' after waiting almost three weeks for an appointment with the breast clinic at Weston General Hospital.

Barbara Jones saw her GP at Graham Road Surgery immediately after discovering an abnormality on one of her breasts, but then suffered an 'agonising' wait over Christmas before she was informed of a date.

The 60-year-old, of Bridge Road, saw her doctor on December 10 but after Christmas Day had still not received a reply.

She telephoned the hospital to find out if there had been some mistake and was told it had not received a letter of referral from her GP.

Now she is calling for a change in the way GP surgeries' correspondence is handled so that referrals for potentially life-threatening illnesses are prioritised.

She said: "After speaking with the hospital I telephoned the surgery and was informed my letter was in the next batch to be typed and that it had been 'very busy'.

"This horrified me. I did not find this an acceptable excuse. I found it inexcusable that no progress had been made after waiting anxiously almost three weeks.

"I was able to rectify the problem by making a few phone calls. How many people will sit and wait for an appointment letter to arrive with what could be an aggressive condition?"

Surgery practice manager said: "We cannot comment on this case because of our duty confidentiality to the patient.

"If we receive a complaint in the practice we try to resolve it directly with the patient.