BY DEBBIE LEIGH
A DESPERATE cancer patient is planning to fly across Europe for surgery after waiting four months for treatment in Leeds.
Phil Murdoch was diagnosed with an "aggressive" form of prostate cancer in early October and has still not bee
n treated. He is worried the long wait will kill him – so worried, the 60-year-old is thinking of flying to Cyprus and paying for surgery.
He said: "I can't waait much longer. What else can I do? I'm not going to die.
"My brother-in-law lives in northern Cyprus and he has found a Turkish surgeon who is prepared to do it.
"But I don't want to do that. I want to do it on my own doorstep, where my children and grandchildren can come and visit me."
The retired civil engineer said the operation would cost £8,000 – around £4,000 less than private treatment in Leeds.
He feels it is his only option after enduring months of sleepless nights, with still no indication of when treatment is likely.
The distressed dad-of-two said: "You can't put a price on the last four months. If someone had said to me 'don't worry about it' – fine. But all I was told was that it was aggressive and had to be dealt with."
It was August when Mr Murdoch, of Temple Avenue, Temple Newsam, Leeds, had tests during a prostate cancer screening scheme.
Options
On October 11 he saw a consultant at St James's Hospital. "He told me I had an aggressive form of prostate cancer and ignoring it wasn't an option."
Scans and appointments followed and he next saw his consultant on November 18, when he was given treatment options – surgery or radiotherapy. He opted for surgery but was told he must speak to a radiography consultant before deciding.
When he returned to the original consultant on December 13 and repeated his surgery request he was put on a list and told to call if he had not heard anything by mid January.
On January 27 – more than three months after he was diagnosed, he was told he was "on the list but not in the diary".
Government guidelines state that 95 per cent of the trust's cancer patients should be treated within a month of diagnosis.
Mr Murdoch, who lives with wife Jean, complained in writing to Neil McKay, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. He was told it could take up to 20 working days to investigate his complaint – so it would respond by February 27.
A spokesman for the trust said: "We are very sorry Mr Murdoch has had to wait for his operation.
"Although there is no reason to believe that the clinical outcome will be affected by the length of time Mr Murdoch has had to wait to date, we are extremely conscious of the distress delays like this can cause and are working hard to schedule his appointment in the near future."
debbie.leigh@ypn.co.uk
