A furious daughter has written to Health Secretary Alan Milburn after her pensioner dad had to endure a three-day wait for surgery to a deep cut on his arm.

Retired millworker William Deforie suffered a severe gash to his left forearm, which left his muscles exposed, in an accident while renovating a house.

But after being told by a casualty doctor at Bradford Royal Infirmary he would have to be admitted for treatment, he was then sent home and told to come back the next day.

When he returned, his operation was cancelled two days running, leaving him with nothing to eat until late in the evening each day.

Mr Deforie finally had the two-hour operation, to stitch his damaged muscle and sew up his arm, 72 hours after arriving at the accident and emergency department.

Today, Bradford Teaching Hosp-itals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said it "deeply regretted" the delay which was due to the numbers of patients needing surgery.

But Mr Deforie's daughter, Mrs Anne Everett, an Inland Revenue officer, of Whitaker Avenue, Eccleshill, has now written a letter of complaint to Mr Milburn.

She said: "My dad had a horrendous ordeal. He is 73 years old and I was concerned about him. It is not the fault of the staff, who were brilliant. But the money isn't going into the NHS where it should be.

"If a man of his age has to wait so long for surgery like this, then there is something wrong."

Mrs Everett, 47, took her father to the casualty department at 4.10pm on Sunday, May 29. He was immediately seen by a casualty doctor who said he would have to be admitted to the hospital.

But two hours later he had his wound dressed, was given antibiotics and painkillers and was sent home because the operating theatre was needed for more urgent cases.

Mr Deforie returned to BRI the following morning and was admitted to a ward. He was not allowed food in preparation for his operation but was told at 7pm that the surgery would not now take place until the next day. By then, no hot meals were available and he had to eat a cold sandwich. The same thing happened the next day and Mr Deforie, of Westminster Terrace, Undercliffe, finally had the surgery on Wednesday afternoon last week.

Mr Deforie said: "I am getting over the shock and depression now but it got me down at the time, especially as I had to cancel a holiday to Ibiza with my wife, Joyce, 71. I was waiting around for three days and all I ate was one hot meal, two baps, a Kit Kat and a packet of crisps.

A Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust spokesman said: "We deeply regret any distress and inconvenience caused to Mr Deforie during his wait for surgery. Unfortunately, the acute theatre was extremely busy on these two days due to the number of patients requiring major emergency surgery."