North Yorkshire man Jack Barnett has at last had urgent surgery carried out in St James's Hospital, Leeds, after it was cancelled seven times.

Mr Barnett, 57, from East Ayton, near Scarborough, was taken from Scarborough District Hospital to Leeds after a shortage of intensive care beds meant surgery was impossible.

His case made national headlines after it was used to highlight this winter's NHS beds crisis.

A St James's Hospital spokesman said Mr Barnett was today stable in the intensive care ward after undergoing surgery yesterday.

The news has been welcomed by Mr Barnett's delighted family.

His mother, Margaret, said today: "We are all very, very relieved indeed that the operation has been done."

Mr Barnett had waited for a life saving operation on a weakened artery since August. It has been repeatedly put off because of the lack of intensive care beds.

He was suffering from an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

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