COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

BARBARA Judge and her great granddaughter Ellie giggle uncontrollably as they share an intimate moment.

Yet this picture of domestic bliss is tinged with sadness – because Barbara knows every second with Ellie could be her last.

The 72-year-old has been diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm – a blood balloon that could literally rupture at any moment, killing her in minutes.

Surgeons in London are confident they can save her, but the NHS will not fund the £15,000 operation.

Mum-of-three Barbara said: “I cried when I found out. It was such a shock.

“I see Ellie every day. She’s so beautiful, I want to watch her grow up.

“I don’t want to die.”

Barbara recently celebrated Ellie’s first birthday, showering her with gifts including a toy teapot, clothes, and mobile phone charms (the pair have one each from a matching set).

She blinks back tears at the idea she might not see the tot’s second birthday.

Barbara, from Holbrooks, Coventry, went to her GP with back pain in September.

She was quickly referred to hospital, where a specialist diagnosed the aortic aneurysm.

The widow was too old and ill to survive open heart surgery, but doctors said she was fit enough for a keyhole operation to fit a tailor-made stent.

A specialist from the Royal Free Hospital even travelled to Coventry to examine Barbara before agreeing to operate on her in London.

“The doctor said it could kill me if they don’t fix it,” said Barbara, who spent several years working at Dunlop, British Leyland and the old Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital.

“He said it was urgent and this was the only option.”

Last month Barbara received a copy of a letter that city health trust NHS Coventry sent to her consultant.

It said her case had been referred to a special panel to decide whether to fund the £15,000 surgery. The family assumed this was a formality.

But 10 days ago she received a second letter which said the trust would not fund the treatment.

Barbara said: “The doctor says I could be fit and healthy enough to carry on playing with Ellie for years if I have the operation.

“I have paid taxes all my life – I still pay taxes now on my pension.

“Why would they refuse to pay for this operation when I really need it?”

The letter did not explain why the panel refused to pay for surgery that has previously been funded for other Coventry patients – and, indeed, has featured in the Coventry Telegraph.

It said the panel considered the available evidence, but also discussed how many other patients could need the operation and the need to be fair to all Coventry residents before reaching a decision.

As a result Barbara’s family fear she was rejected due to her age and because local health chiefs did not want to set a precedent that would force them to fund similar surgery in future.

Alana Cooke, one of Barbara’s five grandchildren, said: “No-one has told us why they won’t fund it. The consultant is at a loss, just like us.

“If nan has to keep going into hospital it will cost them more than £15,000, so it doesn’t make sense.

“It’s disgusting. They are discriminating against her and leaving her to die.”

Barbara’s family have contacted her MP and the health service ombudsman.

They also plan to lobby health secretary Andrew Lansley and appeal against the decision.

City health trust NHS Coventry told the Telegraph that Barbara’s age was not a factor in its decision to refuse funding for her operation.

It admitted it had funded the procedure – a fenestrated endovascular aortic aneurysm repair – for patients in Coventry before.

The operation involves making a small incision near the groin and travelling up the artery to fit a stent at the point of the aneurysm.

However NHS Coventry said new research, published just last month, suggested the evidence for the benefits of this procedure was weak.

It also said the surgery was not routinely funded elsewhere.

A spokeswoman said the previous operations were funded before May 2010 as exceptional or unique cases.

At that point the trust decided the surgery was no longer exceptional – instead it represented a new service.

Therefore the hospital was told it needed to submit a business case to carry on providing that operation.

The spokeswoman said no business case had been received.

Alison Walshe, director of commissioning development for NHS Coventry, said: “Whilst we understand this is a difficult time for the family, as commissioners of local health services, we often have to make difficult decisions based on the latest evidence for procedures and treatments. Such decisions are made by a panel which includes local GPs and public health practitioners.”

Mrs Walshe promised the health trust would hear the family or the consultant’s appeal within two weeks of receiving it.