A Bradford MP was meeting the Shadow Health Secretary today in his fight to get the £27,000 life savings spent by a mother-of-four on a life-saving lung operation refunded by the NHS.

Lisa Brown, 41, of Tong, had to pay £27,000 for an operation to get more capacity in her right lung after an emphysema diagnosis left her with just 27 per cent capacity in her right lung and barely any in her left.

A consultant at Bradford Royal Infirmary turned her down for surgery after ruling it was too high-risk.

Miss Brown insists she was never offered a second opinion on the NHS, so was forced to go private and has to pay another £27,000 for a second operation on her left lung to enable her to walk around the house without being attached to an oxygen mask.

Now Bradford South Labour MP Gerry Sutcliffe was meeting Andy Burnham to discuss the case in London today and, if he still is not satisfied, said he will raise the matter with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

He has also written to BRI and the Royal Brompton to establish exactly what happened and why Miss Brown felt she had no option but to pay for her treatment.

“I am asking the Health Service to find the money to refund it,” Mr Sutcliffe said.

“I want Andy to have a look at this case and add it to the list of things (in the NHS) and to make sure he is aware of the type of issue where she wasn’t given a second opinion.

“She should be reimbursed for both operations either from BRI or from within the NHS.

“I have to exhaust the process, but I am determined. This has been bad advice and she has not got what she was entitled to.

“I will go through the process and in the end if I have to see Mr Hunt, I will do. Miss Brown is obviously a lovely lady and I met her last Saturday. If she hadn’t found this bit of information out herself it could have ended in tragedy and she might not be here.”

Kaye Mitchell, a friend of Miss Brown, said: “It could be a really long process, but Mr Sutcliffe is confident he could get some money back if not everything.

“Lisa explained to him about her second lung operation and she doesn’t want to miss it. “The first operation has really helped her and she can stand for a little bit longer. They should have offered her a second opinion then she would have been offered this lung operation.”

Friends of Miss Brown have raised £1,500 so far to pay for her ongoing treatment.