Lowri says Cancer treatment is 'Postcode Lottery'

A local Welsh friend unable to have cancer op in England faces extra stress during her cancer treatment talks to BBC 

"A cancer patient was told in her hospital bed in England that she could not undergo surgery because she lived in Wales.

Lowri Mai Williams, 42, from Powys, had been referred to hospital in the Midlands for her cancer treatment in 2023.

But it was not until the last moment that she was informed the operation had been cancelled.

NHS England and Powys Teaching Health Board said they could not comment on individual cases.

"She [a doctor] said 'you live in Wales, don't you? Well, we can't continue with the treatment because of the budget'," said Ms Williams.

"I was just sitting there thinking 'this is like a nightmare'."

It is the responsibility of any local health board to ensure there are arrangements for people to receive treatment, whether in England or Wales.

Powys Educational Health Board said it aimed to "ensure the best possible care" for all patients but would not comment on individual cases.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2023, Ms Williams, from Moelfre - close to the English border - received chemotherapy that May before travelling to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford for surgery to remove lymph nodes.

"We went in the morning and didn't eat on Sunday night as part of the preparation," she told the BBC Radio Cymru podcast 1 mewn 2. 

Lowri kindly talks about our (with me, Emilienne) discussions about mastectomies and reconstruction and how they helped with her surgery decisions and her selection of Bold Beanies cancer chemo headwear hats, head wraps and headscarves in her interview.

"I arrived there, gown on. They used marker pens on my body. We were ready to go."

But then a doctor came to sit on her bed and said that the operation would not take place."

Read the full article on BBC news online by clicking here.