A HUSBAND has spoken of his anger after his wife endured a day of 'horror, pain and humiliation' at a Leeds hospital.

Mark Hargrave is furious that his wife Donna-Marie had an 11-hour wait in Leeds General Infirmary to have an operation after her unborn baby died following complications.

He claims that his wife went more than 20 hours without food and that at one stage the hospital lost and then found her case notes.

Mr Hargrave told the Wharfedale Observer: "As a man I cannot pretend to have experienced the full horror, pain, humiliation and anguish of this

tortuous day.

"I cannot blame the staff of ward 60, who

apparently had more important duties. I wouldn't even be arrogant enough to suggest my wife's surgery was of more importance than the

emergencies, which had caused the horrendous delay.

"But the next time some upstart politician starts spouting off about how wonderful or much-improved the NHS is, I urge people to spit in his eye and thrust a copy of this article into his hand."

Mr Hargrave, of Crow Lane, Otley, said that both he and his two-months pregnant wife went for an ultrasound scan at the LGI last Tuesday.

"We had been having problems for the previous few weeks and basically this scan was make or break. The nice lady in ultrasound broke the bad news to us very gently and my wife was booked into ward 60 as an acute patient for surgery on Thursday the same week.

"She was told not to eat or drink after midnight and to report to the ward by 8am. We got there early to beat the traffic and arrived at 7.30am."

The Hargraves were immediately asked if they knew the whereabouts of their medical notes as they had been misplaced but were assured that their loss would not affect the surgery.

"At midday after complaining she was eventually seen by a doctor. The nice lady doctor explained that being admitted as an acute patient meant that your surgery was minor but very urgent, therefore no theatre time was booked and you would be fitted in around other operations. After a thorough

examination the doctor left advising that no

medication was required."

But at 4pm Mr Hargrave claims two nurses arrived to administer the medication that was not required.

He added: "After many minutes argument and tears it was agreed that the nurses go and look at my wife's notes, which had now been found but obviously not read. Ten minutes later one of them returned to apologise for the mistake. Eventually, at 6.20pm, after much complaining and more than 20 hours since she had drunk or eaten anything, my wife went for surgery. She was later discharged at 9.30pm."

Mr Hargrave said that he attached no blame to staff at the hospital, but criticised politicians for the problems facing the NHS today.

"When bad news knocks on your door make sure you're referred somewhere else," he said. "This is another good reason for private medical

insurance."

A spokesman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals said: "The Trust is very sorry indeed to hear that Mr and Mrs Hargrave were unhappy at the treatment provided at the LGI recently.

"Although most patients we treat go home

entirely satisfied, the Trust has a Patient Relations Office which deals with any matters raised by people who have a complaint about any aspect of their stay in hospital.

"This allows the Trust to look fully into the

circumstances of any complaint and then give a measured response from the Chief executive.

"Mr Hargave has not written to us with his concerns. However, as we have now been supplied with a copy of his letter to the Wharfedale Observer, we will be replying to him directly in due course.

"We do, of course, hope Mrs Hargrave is making progress following her return home from surgery."