Calls to cut breast surgery waiting lists

Women who have faced long waits for breast surgery in Sheffield are calling for improved treatment times, saying the delays have caused them additional stress.

Nicola Lovell, 52, said she fears that had she not paid £15,000 for a private breast removal operation she "would not be here to tell my story today".

Meanwhile, Julie Ford, 63, has been waiting since 2021 for reconstructive surgery after undergoing a double mastectomy and says she feels "unable to move on".

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said "regrettably" waiting lists for some patients were "much longer than we want", and apologised for the distress caused.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield, Lovell said she and her daughter were both told in 2020 they were at risk of developing breast cancer and were put on the waiting list for preventative surgery.

She said there was a strong family history of the disease, with both her cousin and grandmother dying before the age of 50.

Lovell said she opted to pay for private treatment, while her daughter, 23, is still waiting.

"Due to my age and the length of NHS waiting times, I made the desperate decision to fund my own double mastectomy privately," she said.

"This was not a choice made lightly, but one driven by fear and the reality of waiting too long for preventative treatment.

"I feel strongly had I not made the decision to raise the funds, I would not be here to tell my story today.

She said she was then placed on an NHS waiting list for reconstructive surgery, finally having the operation in September.

Tracy Watson is among those campaigning for improvements to waiting times.

She had a preventative double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in 2023 after being put on the waiting list in 2019.

"[When you are waiting] it's at the back of your mind, you get sent away and you try and get on with your life, you've got ups and downs, you've got moments of 'oh my God', it's hard, it's tough, it's mental torture," she said

After the operation she was told she had pre-cancer in her left breast.

"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," she said.

"I'm at the end of my journey now, but I'm aware that so many other women aren't - and I want to raise awareness about the long waiting lists they're facing."

Joanne Heald, 51, was initially told she was facing a nine month wait for surgery to remove her breasts, but ended up waiting six years after a series of cancellations, finally having the operation in 2023.

"To build yourself up to have body parts removed and rebuilt, knowing that you've got time off work, you've got families to sort out, that in itself is hard to process and organise ... but six years and it was just 'yeah, we can't do it cause the surgeons have gone on holiday'."

Heald said she then waited until February 2026 for the follow-up reconstruction procedure.

"It's a long, long haul and a massive thing to go through," she added.

Julie Ford, 63, had her breast removed in 2021 but needed follow-up surgery after an implant became fused to her own tissue.

She said after a couple of years on the waiting list she received a call offering her an appointment for surgery, but took the call the day after her father's death and did not initially feel able to cope with it.

Ford said she called back twenty minutes later to accept, but was told the slot had gone.

She said she had been "in limbo" ever since and urged the NHS to do more to offer treatment at other hospitals in cases where local ones have long waiting lists.

"The problem for me is I can't move on. I've not been myself over the past four years," she said

"I have to look at this hideous mess through the mirror every day.

"I do not go out, I do not socialise, I'm just in limbo."

Jane McNicholas, Chief Medical Officer, at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are one of the best performing centres in terms of the number of immediate autologous reconstruction operations we do at the time of mastectomy as part of a patients active cancer treatment but regrettably for a particular group of patients who require this type of reconstruction carried out at a later time or for risk prevention reasons we currently have much longer waiting times than we want despite taking a range of actions to try and improve the situation.

"We are so very sorry for the distress this is causing some patients, and we are exploring every opportunity to improve the situation.

"Other centres across the NHS are facing the same demand challenge which is why the options to be treated elsewhere are also limited."

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