'I fear I'll die on hospital waiting list'

A man fears he will die before he reaches the top of a year-long waiting list to see a heart specialist.

John Crockford, 77, from Bridlington in East Yorkshire, has a history of cardiac problems and suffered three heart attacks in 2022.

He has had four stents fitted to open blocked arteries but said he had become so unwell he suspects another is needed.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said its patients were "prioritised by doctors according to clinical need", but recognised some were waiting longer than it would like.

Mr Crockford said he asked his GP practice to refer him to a cardiologist at Scarborough Hospital before Christmas, when he started to feel so breathless he was unable to do any physical activity.

The retired foster carer and retail worker said his symptoms were the same as those he experienced before previous operations to fit a stent.

Mr Crockford needs a scan to establish if the procedure is needed, but said he was alarmed when he received a letter from the hospital stating "patients are waiting up to 52 weeks" for their cardiology appointments.

He said: "That's before I can go and see a cardiologist, let alone have the scan.

"I don't know whether I'm going to snuff it before I get this year over, because all the time they're not doing it, these arteries are getting clogged up."

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Source: BBC News, 20 January 2025