A 60-YEAR-OLD man due to undergo a vital hip replacement to restore his quality of life had his operation cancelled – in the operating theatre.

Christleton High School maintenance worker Ivor Sayer had been gowned up and was ready to be anaesthetised at Wrexham Maelor Hospital on Monday when a surgeon came in to say they did not have the necessary implant.

It was the second time in as many weeks the operation had been cancelled.

He said: “You can’t describe how you feel. You are all worked up having had a sleepless night worrying about it. You think, all right this is it, you are on the doorstep to hopefully starting a new way of life and getting better.

“You will have the initial pain, but the pain you are in every day will go away. The nursing staff and theatre staff were dumbfounded.”

Mr Sayer, who lives in Buckley and suffers arthritis, needed the operation so he can lead a more active life.

He said: “It’s hindering my job and I am also an athletics coach at Deeside Athletics Centre and a senior starter with Welsh Athletics Ltd”.

An original operation date of June 10 was offered to him, which he had to decline due to athletics commitments, and it was rescheduled for December 3.

Last month he was offered an earlier appointment of November 23 which he accepted, but this was cancelled at the last minute as other procedures that day “over- ran”.

He was then offered December 3, but again this was cancelled – this time in the operating theatre because the implant had not been ordered.

A spokesman for North East Wales NHS Trust said Monday’s cancellation was the result of a “breakdown in communications” between staff following a change in the planned surgical procedure.

He said Mr Sayer was originally due to have a hip resurfacing operation, but his consultant decided a full replacement would be a better long-term solution and informed his medical secretary.

But Mr Sayer says he was never down for a hip resurfacing operation and there must have been an error in his notes.

The spokesman said: “We had not ordered the implant we needed so couldn’t go ahead with the surgery on Monday.”

“We apologise profusely for what has happened. We understand his frustration”.

Mr Sayer had his operation on Wednesday and is now recovering in hospital.