PENSIONER George Winstanley sat down and wept after Royal Bolton Hospital administration staff informed him that his appointment had been cancelled -- for the fifth time.

The 72-year-old has been living with the fear that he could have cancer since July and the latest cancellation has done nothing to ease his nightmares.

The pensioner's "fifth" cancellation this week came just a day after the Bolton Evening News revealed exclusive pictures of the town's crisis-hit hospital -- showing a traffic jam of trolley-waiting patients in the accident and emergency unit.

A damning Government report awarded the Royal Bolton Hospital a "one-star" rating, the worst of any hospital in the North-west.

But Mr Winstanley's experiences highlight the fact that cancellations are not just affecting those waiting for operations.The demand for beds is also having an impact on out patients, he claims.

The pensioner has now been told that he will see the consultant on October 19 -- 16 weeks after he was referred to the hospital by his GP.

Under strict Government guidelines hospital consultants should see suspected cancer patients within two weeks.

Inspectors have already pulled up the Bolton hospital for breaching the national targets laid down to make sure consultants see suspected breast cancer women patients within 14 days.

But the hospital denies that Mr Winstanley was referred by his GP under the 14 day cancer rule.

The Bolton pensioner, riddled with arthritis and who suffers from epilepsy, was reduced to tears as he described his "disbelief" at the NHS system.

He said: "It is so upsetting. You really psyche yourself up, then you get a cancellation. I don't even know what is wrong with me and I am worried sick."

His wife, Gladys, says her husband is too worried to eat and needs strong sleeping tablets at night because of the constant fear that he may have cancer.

Mrs Winstanley, of New Riven Court, Little Lever, said: "It is an absolute disgrace.

"He should have seen the consultant as an out patient in July. But when the letter came yesterday, he couldn't believe it.

"He got himself all worked up and upset. He sat down and cried when he opened the letter.

"The Royal Bolton Hospital just can't cope. They are not big enough for the number of patients."

She added: "George went to his GP about problems with his bowel in the summer, but the doctor didn't know what was the matter and said that he needed to see a specialist.

"Until he sees a specialist, he doesn't know what is wrong."

Mr Winstanley, a former engineering worker for Bolton-based Richard Hough's, underwent major surgery for a tumour to be removed from his pituitary gland four years ago.

He says it took six months to wait for a MMR scan before they found the tumour. It took four weeks to discover from the neuro surgeon whether it was cancerous.

Worried

Mrs Winstanley said: "It was benign, but we still worried ourselves. Now it seems as if we are going through the same thing again.

"He is making himself ill with worry."

Her sister-in-law, Maureen Car, a senior nurse who used to work at the hospital, said: "They ask you to go to your doctor if you notice anything unusual. But what they don't tell you is that you can wait months and months to see a specialist. The worry is always there at the back of your mind."

Beverley Andrew, Royal Bolton Hospital Director of Operations, said hospital records revealed that Mr Winstanley's hospital appointments had been cancelled on four occasions, not five.

She said of the cancellations: " We are terribly sorry. He has been cancelled on four occasions. On one occasion, he cancelled himself. But I am sorry it has happened.

"He should have been seeing the consultant yesterday but the consultant had to undertake a major operation which took some time."

She added: "Mr Winstanley has been inconvenienced and distressed and we will be bringing him forward for an appointment as soon as possible."