A TERMINALLY ill cancer patient in York has hit out over hospital rules after she was told she would have to attend a scan result appointment by herself.

Wendy Longstaff, 61, who lives in the city centre, was first diagnosed with a “rare and aggressive” form of breast cancer in 2010.

But, in 2017, she was diagnosed with secondary cancer and after hormone treatment, she was informed that, sadly, it was terminal. She is now undergoing chemotherapy.

Wendy often has to have scans to allow doctors to asses her situation.

But last week, she received a letter from York Hospital telling her she would have to attend a results appointment at the hospital’s Magnolia Centre on her own on Monday this week - due to the “highly transmissible” Omicron variant of Covid-19.

York Press: York cancer patient, Wendy Longstaff, has hit out at York Hospital after she was told she would have to attend a results appointment by herself

Wendy said: “I was devastated, I couldn’t believe I was going to have to get news like this on my own without my husband beside me - which could have been even more bad news.

“I know that other patients have received these letters and aren’t happy either. It’s both immoral and unethical, I feel very strongly about this as we are the patients and we need to be considered.

“If Boris Johnson can throw all these parties at Downing Street when he shouldn’t have been, then why should we have to go to these appointments on our own?”

After disputing the letter, Wendy was allowed to attend the appointment with her husband, which she said she thinks was a “one off”, as she said the consultant “did not seem happy about it”.

“They didn’t seem happy as they said the rules are in place to ensure safety,” Wendy added.

A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said they understood how important it is for patients to bring someone with them to an appointment, but because Omicron is highly transmissible, they have taken the “difficult decision” to ask patients to attend appointments alone, where possible, at this time.

York Press: York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

“This helps limit the numbers of people on site at any one time in order to minimise infection and keep our patients and staff safe. However, we understand there may be times when this is not possible and if patients have exceptional circumstances and need someone to accompany them we urge them to contact us,” the spokesperson for the trust said.

“The easing of England’s Plan B measures includes the dropping of mandatory face coverings in public places. However, there are no changes to healthcare settings. Staff and visitors will still be required to wear masks or face coverings when entering any of our healthcare settings to help reduce the transmission risk from Covid-19,” they added.