A wig shop for patients at Oxford’s new £109m cancer centre has been forced to close because the owner was not on an NHS-approved list of suppliers.

Dave Gawman set up the shop after the Cancer Centre opened at the Churchill Hospital in March.

The shop, called Jacqueline’s, provided wigs for patients undergoing chemotherapy or suffering other conditions leading to hair loss.

But patients at the hospital are unable to use NHS prescriptions to buy the wigs, as the owner’s firm was not on an approved list.

Mr Gawman, 62, who runs Jacqueline’s Exclusive Collection Ltd, thought his company was on the approved list before he moved into the centre.

Mr Gawman, who also runs wig shops in Poole in Dorset and Basingstoke in Hampshire, said: “I feel very bitter about this, because I know we can provide a first-class service for patients and it makes sense to have a shop like ours in the cancer centre.

“The trust invited us in to sell our wigs, but unfortunately we have not been given the chance to operate properly.

“In Oxford, patients given a prescription pay the trust £60 and then they are advised where to go and get their wig at a discount.

“Patients are being advised to deal with other suppliers, not us, so patients are not being given a proper choice of coming to us.

“The trust approved us setting up the shop, so it makes no sense not to allow patients to use us fully.

“It has cost me £1,200 a week just to keep the shop open since we opened 14 weeks ago and I also spent £16,000 fitting out the shop.”

Worker Sue Hubbard, 63, from Witney, said: “Being able to get a wig at the cancer centre has been a real comfort for a lot of patients.

“I’m sure that some of them will be horrified that we have been forced to close.”

Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman Elika Saedi said: “Some patients who require a wig due to medical treatment can be offered them on prescription.

“Only shops on the nationally-approved NHS Supply Chain Framework Agreement can be used with a prescription.

“Patients, however, have complete choice as to where they go, with or without a prescription.

“Mr Gawman’s shop is not on the approved prescription list.

“We have tried to guide him through the process that would add him to the list of approved outlets.

“Mr Gawman will have the opportunity to be added to the list later this year, as the current framework for suppliers comes up for renewal.”

Mr Gawman said it was “not out of the question” the shop could reopen in future once what he described as a glitch was rectified.

He said his firm supplied wigs to three other health authorities for patients in areas such as Bournemouth, Poole and Luton.