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A three-year-old girl waiting for vital heart surgery has had her operation cancelled three times in as many weeks because of a shortage of hospital beds.
Ella Cotterell was due to have an operation to widen her aorta artery in her heart on Monday at Bristol Children's Hospital, but her surgery was cancelled 48 hours before because all 15 beds in the intensive care unit were full.
Ella, of Bradley Stoke, Bristol, had open heart surgery when she was just nine days old and suffered a stroke at 18 months.
Her parents Ian Cotterell, 44, and Rachel Davis, 40, were told in October that she would need the operation within 12 to 18 months.
The surgery was first scheduled for April 2, but was postponed because of last-minute emergency cases coming in.
It was re-arranged for four days later but again the operation was cancelled for the same reason.
A third date was organised for April 20 and last Thursday she went to the children's hospital for pre-operative tests.
But on Saturday morning her parents received another call from the hospital, explaining her operation would have to be cancelled yet again.
Michele Narey, manager of the Women's and Children's division at the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'The decision to cancel any patient for any procedure is taken extremely seriously but is sometimes unavoidable because of the need to effectively manage emergency patients requiring beds on a day-to-day basis.
'We know that cancelling procedures can cause additional stress for patients so we will always seek to avoid this wherever possible.
'We are continually reviewing our procedures to improve the management of emergency patients through our hospitals to avoid cancellations.
'We cannot discuss individual cases because of our duty of confidentiality to patients and their families.
Three-year-old Ella Cotterell with her parents Ian and Rachel and six-year-old brother Liam
'We take all complaints very seriously and we are working with the family to resolve this situation.'
At just a week old doctors discovered Ella's aorta hadn't formed properly and she had open heart surgery to repair it.
At 18 months old she suffered a stroke after falling down the stairs at her home and banging her head, temporarily paralysing the left side of her body.
In October, during one of Ella's six monthly reviews, an MRI scan found she had a narrowing of the aorta.
Doctors carried out two angioplasties, where small balloons are inflated to remove the blockage, but neither worked.
She is now taking an adult dose of medication to control her blood pressure.
Last week Ella went to hospital to undergo blood tests and a cardiogram in preparation for her surgery and was shown her hospital bed only to be disappointed for a third time.
Her mother Rachel Davis said today she was devastated when the hospital told her the surgery would be cancelled because there were not enough beds.
'My husband and I were in tears,' she said.
'When our six-year-old son Liam asked what was wrong we told him Ella's operation had been cancelled again and he said we should tell Gordon Brown.'
Ella, now three, at just nine days old after having emergency heart surgery
The family are now waiting for another surgery date.
'We have asked the doctors if she really needs the surgery as she is so happy at the moment and is running around like a normal little girl, but she could drop down dead at any moment,' said Ms Davis.
'Twice I have been told that she may not make it through the night and there have been times when I have gone into her room in the morning and wondered whether she'd still be breathing.
'She loves the attention and going to hospital is like an adventure to her, she doesn't realise they are going to cut her open, she just likes to play games with the nurses so she has been disappointed when we've told her the operation has been cancelled time after time.
'Its horrendous because you mentally prepare yourself that she may not survive the operation or she may be permanently disabled, because it is high risk surgery.
'We have been counting down the days, it is the waiting that is so hard.
'We have a family day out with Ella as the surgery gets closer and you can't help but think that it might be the last time we do something like this together.'
Ms Davis, who works part time as an accident and emergency nurse at Bristol's Frenchay Hospital, called on the Government to plough more money into the NHS before a child died on the waiting list.
'I have worked in the NHS for 22 years so I know what happens in hospitals,' she said.
'I cannot fault the doctors and nurses for all they have done for Ella, she would not be alive today without them.
'The surgeons at Bristol Children's Hospital take cases from all over the South West and Wales and they are desperately trying to get through the list.
'I believe Ella is the tip of the iceberg and that there are many other families out there that have had their operations cancelled many more times but have not spoken out about it.
'This is a national problem, there are not enough resources in the NHS and it is about prioritising.
'Children who need routine grommet operations are seen quickly yet the children who need life-saving surgery are waiting because there are not enough intensive care beds and staff.
'It is a matter of time before a child dies on the waiting list and I don't want it to be Ella.
'If that does happen the Government will have blood on their hands.'
