A Bradford woman has used her £27,000 life savings for a lung operation after becoming a victim of the NHS postcode lottery.

Lisa Brown, 41, was turned down for surgery by a consultant at Bradford Royal Infirmary who ruled it was too high risk.

But after she went private the consultant who performed the surgery at the specialist Royal Brompton Hospital in London said he could have offered her the same treatment on the NHS.

The situation has left Miss Brown’s parents needing to use money from their house sale to pay for a second operation next month, again costing £27,000, to buy her a quality of life amid fears she will not survive three years on the transplant waiting list.

And it has left her family, including her four children, condemning the disparities in the health service.

The mother-of-four, of Tong, was diagnosed with emphysema six weeks ago despite never drinking or smoking. She spent a week in intensive care at BRI and was sent home with her left lung rated as damaged beyond repair and with little more than a quarter of the capacity in her right lung.

Refusing to accept the initial decision, and an estimated three-year wait for a lung transplant if she is even eligible for one, Miss Brown called the Royal Brompton Hospital where consultant Eric Lim agreed to operate to give her more lung capacity in her right lung.

That operation was deemed a success but another operation to repair some of her left lung will enable her to walk around the house without being attached to an oxygen mask.

Miss Brown told the Telegraph & Argus she was never offered a second opinion on the NHS, forcing her to go private, despite health officials insisting that it is an individual’s right.

She said: “Never in my life have I felt so let down. They can’t send someone home to die. I have family and had to fight for my life, I can’t just go like that.

“I didn’t even know I was allowed a second opinion on the NHS until I got to London and nurses told me everyone is entitled to that by law. No-one told me. People die waiting for a lung transplant.

“I want to get better to be there for my kids and help people not as fortunate as me. How must those feel who have no-one to support them?

“I am making sure this terrible journey myself and my family have had to take never happens to anyone else.”

Miss Brown’s daughter Lisa-Marie Brown, 25, who is six months pregnant, said a fundraising drive had been started to pay for future medical care for her mum, a gym fanatic who worked as a dental assistant before her sudden illness, the cause of which is a mystery.

“It is an absolute nightmare,” she said. “It has turned our world upside down. She has never smoked or drank and they are puzzled.

“They initially put her chest problems down to panic attacks years ago but it was empheysma.

“We feel really let down and money talks because as soon as money was involved we could get the treatment.

“The £20,000 was for the NHS equipment and we paid the consultant £7,000. The fact they said yes straight away and they wouldn’t have done that if it was too high risk.

“Our mum would have died without this operation. This will give her the breath to walk up stairs.

“Her life has just been stopped by this. The family had no choice but to spend everything they have. It is her life we are talking about. She will never have a normal life, but will be here and can walk without getting out of breath.”

A spokesman for the Royal Brompton said: “Royal Brompton Hospital is a specialist heart and lung centre and our clinical teams have particular expertise in lung volume reduction surgery.

“This type of surgery is available on the NHS; patients are referred from consultants based at district general hospitals around England. Lisa self-referred to see Mr Lim, which means she was not referred by her NHS consultant, but contacted Mr Lim directly through his private practice.

“Had she seen him in his NHS clinic the same diagnosis would have been made and treatment offered, although she would only have got an appointment for the NHS clinic if another hospital consultant has referred her in (it is not possible to self-refer to NHS clinics).

“We are delighted to see the transformation in Lisa’s condition after surgery and look forward to her continued recovery.”

A spokesman for Bradford Districts Clinical Commissioning Group said: “Every patient has a right to a wide range of treatments, but some may not be considered suitable for individual patients because they are not clinically effective for certain conditions or pose a high risk to a patient’s survival rate.

“Patients have a right to a second medical opinion and, if a treatment or procedure was then considered appropriate by the NHS, a referral could be made and funded. The NHS does not fund retrospective treatment, unless in exceptional circumstances or private treatment.”

A Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: “Unfortunately we can’t comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality but what we can say is that some procedures are not clinically appropriate for certain patients as they are deemed too high risk.

“Patients are always entitled to seek a second opinion on the NHS, if they are not happy with the first.”