A cancer patient waiting for a critical eight-hour operation claims he had it cancelled twice because a hospital was "full".
Bruce Knight, from Warwickshire, who has pancreatic cancer, says he was told by University Hospital, Coventry, the procedure would not take place on 10 January nor 17 January.
His operation has now been rescheduled for 7 February.
The trust has apologised and said there had been a "high demand" for services.
Mr Knight, 73, who lives in Nuneaton, was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas in March last year.
He has had successful radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which ended in November, but fears the cancer is growing again.
His wife Val Knight said they were told by a specialist cancer nurse on 29 December the operation would be on 10 January.
When they attended for a pre-op appointment on 3 January, it was already in doubt because the hospital was on red alert.
It was cancelled on 5 January.
They received a letter saying that the operation would take place on 17 January, but it was cancelled again.
Mrs Knight said she was terrified her husband's operation would not go ahead next month.
"If my husband dies, I will sue the hospital, but that's not what I want, I want him alive," she said.
Chief operating officer David Eltringham said: "Like almost every NHS hospital in the country, we have recently seen high demand for our services and we have had to take some incredibly difficult and rare decisions based on the clinical needs of our patients.
"The patient's operation was cancelled on one occasion because the hospital was full, including our intensive care unit.
"I sincerely apologise for the distress that the cancellation has caused, but the hospital is working with the patient to put a plan in place that is acceptable to him."
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 8:24 pm