A TERMINALLY ill patient from Thorpe says his experiences have left him worried for the future of cancer care at Colchester Hospital.

Michael Heath, 60, who was initially diagnosed with rare ampullary cancer has since been told the disease has spread to his liver, pelvis and back.

He believes the hospital is missing opportunities to spot signs of the disease because staff are overstretched.

Mr Heath, of Byng Crescent, said: “I don’t care about me, I’m dying, but I’m worried about other people who are going to have to go there in the future.

“All of these houses are being built and yet the infrastructure isn’t there.

“The hospital isn’t made of rubber - it can’t just stretch, it needs investment.

“I had a scan around 16 weeks ago but it took them more than six weeks to read it and tell me what was going on - it didn’t turn out to be good news.”

Mr Heath said the six-week wait had left him feeling anxious, although Cancer Research UK said a wait of a couple of weeks should be expected.

Figures for February showed that 0.46 per cent of patients waited six weeks or more for a key diagnostic test at Colchester Hospital - the target is to achieve less than 1 per cent.

Mr Heath said: “Last week I was left in absolute agony because I was supposed to see a specialist at Charing Cross Hospital on Wednesday.

“But I was told the appointment had been cancelled on Tuesday because Colchester hadn’t sent the scans over.

“You can’t knock the nurses and doctors, they’re doing all they can and it’s not their fault the money isn’t there.

“If you think about the amount of building going on, people will just have to wait longer and longer.”

In January, Department for Health figures showed 73.5 per cent of cancer patients are beginning treatment at Colchester Hospital within 62 days of an urgent GP referral.

A spokesman for the hospital said: “We are concerned to hear of Mr Heath’s experiences and would encourage him to get in touch with us to discuss all of these concerns. We work with local authorities and national bodies to make sure we are aware of needs and services have the appropriate resources.”