Sick girl's op halted seven times

Two British children a year are affected by Lily's condition

A two-year-old girl with a rare heart defect has had her life-saving operation cancelled seven times due to a shortage of intensive care beds.

Lily Cater, from Bradford, has seen her open heart surgery repeatedly put off at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Her mother said the life-expectancy of a child with her condition without surgery is five years.

The hospital has apologised saying patients whose life is at immediate risk are a priority for the 19 beds.

It's heart-breaking, I've shed a lot of tears over the last few weeks worrying Michala Cater, Lily's mother

Lily has a blockage between her heart and her main artery to her lungs which is starving her body of oxygen - it is a condition which affects just two children a year in Britain.

She was scheduled to travel to Birmingham for the operation a month ago but it was cancelled.

Another date was set and that too was postponed along with five others.

Her mother said: "It's heart-breaking, I've shed a lot of tears over the last few weeks worrying. On Sunday we were told for the first time at 9 o'clock she was going in only to get a phone call at 10 to say she wouldn't be.

"She really, really needs this operation so she can carry on a normal life."

Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust said an intensive care bed is needed for most child cardiac patients after surgery but it only has 19.

'Working to reduce waits'

It said in a statement: "This sometimes means children whose lives are not in immediate danger have their operations cancelled and rescheduled.

"Cancelling scheduled surgery is not something we do lightly or for any reasons other than to accommodate emergency cases or when the unit is full."

It said it is impossible to guarantee any operation will not be cancelled and families are told this.

The hospital added: "However, every effort will be made to ensure that Lily's operation proceeds as soon as possible without any further delay.

"Staff at the hospital are working extremely hard to bring down the waiting times for patient waiting for surgery."