A cancer patient has been left distressed and angry after she claims her treatment at a Bradford hospital was delayed without explanation.

Samina Mehr, 33, says she should have received chemotherapy for her breast cancer at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

First she claims she was kept waiting for hours before one of her drugs arrived from the pharmacy department, and then she claims the only nurse on duty qualified to give that drug would not give it.

Dr Mehr - who is a doctor working as a gynaecology registrar - said she was not given an answer when she repeatedly asked if she could have her treatment on Ward 15 that evening.

"The experience I had was very poor," she said.

She said it was to be her fourth session of chemotherapy - something which leaves her exhausted and tired - and she has to prepare herself mentally to go through it.

"Being a cancer patient and having to wait the whole day and not having anything to eat - because once I start treatment I feel so sickly - isn't satisfactory. I spent the whole day hungry."

She said previous experience of undergoing surgery and having chemotherapy at BRI had been good. But this has blown my confidence after all that. I asked them personally five or six times why I couldn't have my treatment and every time I asked, the nurse said nothing. No one's giving me an answer."

Dr Mehr eventually had her treatment the following day, but said she had spent a sleepless night upset about the incident.

"I wasn't given a bed. I had to sit in a chair all day. The type of chemotherapy I have is so strong that I'm shattered all the time. I'm now in two minds as to whether to have the next treatment here or not, and I wonder how they will treat me."

The explanation she had been given was that the nurse was ill, said Dr Mehr.

A spokesman for Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust said patient confidentiality meant specific details could not be given, but she could confirm there was a delay in Dr Mehr receiving her chemotherapy.

"For this we very much apologise. We are obviously concerned about what happened, and we are currently investigating the exact circumstances of this case.

"Once we establish the reasons behind this delay, we shall be discussing them with Dr Mehr and her family.

"We would like to reassure all our patients that this is an isolated incident in a unit which has developed an excellent reputation for the quality of care and treatment it provides."

e-mail:

jan.winter@bradford.newsquest.co.uk