AN elderly heart patient is threatening to stage a sit-in at the John Radcliffe Hospital because he is having to wait for the life-saving surgery he needs.

Douglas Peverill and others on the heart wards at the prestigious Oxford hospital are threatening the action after delays in operations for open heart surgery.

Mr Peverill has been on the cardiothoracic ward since a heart attack on August 25.

He was told he needed an urgent heart bypass and has since had two small heart attacks but has not yet been told a date for the operation.

The 70-year-old, of Duxford Close, Bicester, is considered a high-risk case because he had a heart bypass 13 years ago and it would be a re-operation.

He and four or five other patients were due to stage a sit-in at the hospital yesterday but were talked out of it with a promise of discussions with senior managers.

But Mr Peverill said today he had not been told of any definite dates and if the surgery did not happen next week, the sit-in could be back on. The threats come three months after the Oxford Mail revealed patients in the city, including those on heart-surgery lists, were dying before reaching the operating tables.

Dozens of life-saving operations had been cancelled because of a nursing and beds crisis.

Mr Peverill said: "I was told I needed an operation urgently and I am still sitting here.

"If I don't get the operation soon I am going to be in trouble. We made a formal protest at the meeting and they gave us the same old excuses.

"I would be considering doing the sit-in or some form of protest next week if I don't get a date. It is not good enough." Gilli Appleby, Trust cardiac services manager, confirmed Mr Peverill was a high-risk patient.

But she said it was important he was operated on at the right time by the right surgeon and that the Trust had to deal with the most serious cases first.

She said: "He is being monitored. It was planned he would be operated on yesterday but it had to be cancelled because there was an emergency. He has been given a date next Tuesday."

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