A grandmother was in tears today as she described running up a debt of £8,000 for a private operation because she was in so much pain.

Ann Jennings, 63, needed a hip replacement because she could barely walk - but was told she faced a nine month wait for it on the NHS.

She was so desperate she went to a private hospital where she was operated on within a week.

"I just couldn't wait any longer," she said. "But as I got better I began to get angry and I thought I would do something about it - speak out and write to politicians.

"You wouldn't let a dog walk about the way I was walking about before my operation."

Mrs Jennings said her hip started troubling her two-and-a-half years ago and she sought help from her GP.

Earlier this year she went back to her GP because the pain was worse and this time was referred to a specialist at Leeds General Infirmary.

But when she heard at Easter that her long-awaited outpatient appointment had been put back from May 8 to May 20 she decided she could not cope any more.

She knew she would face a further nine month wait for her operation after being seen in a clinic. "I couldn't stop crying when they delayed my appointment and I'm ashamed to say if I'd had some tablets I would have taken them and ended it all," she said.

"My hospital care package cost £8,038 and it was worth every penny.

"But I do worry about people who can't afford to borrow the money - what do they do?"

Mrs Jennings, a former foster carer and care home worker, paid by credit card for her operation at the BUPA hospital in Roundhay, Leeds. She will repay the debt with equity from her home in Farfield Avenue, Farsley.

"I didn't have a life before, I couldn't go out and when the children came round they didn't think I was the same Grandma. They have always known me as the Silly Grandma. Now, I can go to the sweetie shop with them again."

She believes the Government should partly reimburse patients who have quit the NHS waiting list. "I don't mean for boob jobs and things like that, but there should be some recompense for people like me who have jumped the queue because they were desperate - the Government should make provision."

e-mail: sarah.walsh@

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