A FORMER NHS nurse suffering from malignant skin cancer was so disgusted with the prospect of waiting five months to see a specialist at Whipps Cross University Hospital that she turned to another hospital for treatment.

Kim Cooling, of Cheyne Avenue, South Woodford, pictured, said she almost suffered a nervous breakdown from worrying that her facial growth would not been seen by a specialist until September 2003 five months after being urgently referred by her GP.

Concerned at the hospital's lack of prompt treatment and its later failure to inform her that her biopsy was cancerous within two weeks, as promised Mrs Cooling sought treatment at specialist cancer hospital Guys and St Thomas's.

Mrs Cooling finally had the growing skin cancer, the size of a five pence piece on the side of her nose, removed last January and thanks to the latest procedures at St Thomas's she did not require the plastic surgery Whipps had planned for her.

Months after her operation, which eradicated the tumour and left no prominent scarring, Mrs Cooling has spoken of her despair at a health service which was once the envy of the world but is now, she claims, failing society's most vulnerable.

She said: "I almost had a nervous breakdown because of the wait. My father had the same condition and lost part of his nose, yet he was treated within five weeks. I was terrified I would be terribly disfigured.

"I suspect this is a much longer wait than in most hospitals and this is appalling in a case of a facial skin cancer."

Mrs Cooling told the Guardian she first noticed a small pimple-like spot appear on the side of her nose which bled for no apparent reason one of the signs of the condition sclerosing basal cell carcinoma.

Contd from front The cancer is non-life-threatening but the longer it is left unchecked it spreads across the skin, destroying tissue and leaving the patient permanently disfigured.

Mrs Cooling initially visited her GP in April 2003 and was referred to a dermatologist at Whipps Cross Hospital but was shocked when she was given a date with the consultant in September.

She said: "I asked Whipps Cross why I had to wait five months with a suspected cancer and spoke to the dermatologist's secretary who was kind enough to bring the appointment forward to July.

"I had a biopsy taken and they said that if there was anything to worry about, they would contact me within two weeks, but I didn't hear anything for six weeks."

The worried ex-nurse, who lives with husband Gary, was then given the bombshell that the tumour was malignant and would need to be removed, but she was given no explanation by the hospital for the diagnostic delay.

She said: "I no longer trusted Whipps Cross because of having waited for such a long time. I paid for another private biopsy at a cost of £360 and then asked to go to St Thomas's Hospital.

"I was given the best possible treatment using the latest surgical techniques."

The disgusted ex-nurse requested a refund for the private diagnostic biopsy and consultation but was refused by the Redbridge Primary Care Trust.