A young man with a chronic stomach condition had at least four consecutive specialist appointments at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital cancelled.

Mark Underhill's Crohn's disease and ulcerated colitis condition deteriorated so much that on September 5 this year he was rushed to hospital when he began vomitting and started passing blood and solids up to 50 times a day.

The 22-year-old was told he needed an emergency operation to remove almost all of his colon and part of his bowel and would need a colostomy bag - possibly for the rest of his life.

His stomach problems started in December 2003 when he was rushed into the Horton Hospital in Banbury suffering from stomach pains, but he was not seen by a specialist until April 2004.

He did not see a consultant, but a registrar, who diagnosed Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory disease which causes stomach pains, diarrhoea and weight loss, and ulcerated colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease. He was given medication to control it.

He saw the same registrar again in June and September 2004 and January 2005 and was told to remain on the same medication.

But after that, Mr Underhill, a chef, of High Street, Shipton-under-Wychwood in west Oxfordshire, says he was not seen again by a specialist for the next 18 months.

The JR says four appointments to see a specialist were cancelled and that Mr Underhill did not show up for a fifth in September 2005.

In April 2006 when his condition became so bad he was constantly passing blood, Mr Underhill went to see his GP and it was only due to his insistence that an appointment to see a specialist was arranged for June 27, 2006.

He says although there was alternative medication he could have tried, it was too late.

A month later, he underwent an emergency endoscopy and was told he would receive a letter with a date for a follow-up appointment but it had still not arrived three weeks later when he was rushed into hospital.

Mr Underhill said: "I'm totally disgusted and annoyed with the doctors. I feel if they had seen me earlier I would not have had to go through all of this and be attached to a bag for possibly the rest of my life.

"When I finally got to see a specialist in June he spent five minutes apologising saying he did not realise how bad it had got."

A spokesman for the Oxford Radcliffe NHS Trust's hospital said: "We are sorry to hear of Mr Underhill's concerns about his treatment.

"This patient was seen regularly as an inpatient and outpatient over the last couple of years. It became clear that he was no longer responding to medical treatment and that surgery would be necessary. We did cancel a number of outpatients appointments with Mr Underhill earlier in the year and apologise for the added anxiety this has caused him and his family."