PATIENTS waiting years for life-changing operations have been left in limbo after hospital chiefs admitted their surgeons are not permitted to carry out the complex surgery.
Three women have contacted the Mail in the past week after being told by medical staff that their stomach operations have been cancelled or postponed.
All three were told the procedures would take place at either Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital.
But Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, has since said it is not authorised to perform the complex procedures and apologised for the confusion.
The women have been left waiting to hear if their operation will ever take place and where it will be.
Kimberly Irvin, 23, of Greatfield estate, east Hull, said she was due to have her operation at Hull Royal Infirmary on Thursday, but it was cancelled with just a few hours' notice.
She said: "It's ridiculous. I can't understand why this has happened. This surgery would change my life."
Kimberly suffers from debilitating sickness, forcing her to live on a diet of mashed potato and beans.
She was told she would have a temporary pacemaker fitter to her stomach at Hull Royal.
If that was successful, a permanent one was to be fitted later.
But Kimberly says minutes before she planned to leave for hospital, a doctor rang her to say the procedure had been cancelled.
The previous day she received a voicemail message to say the operation was to go ahead.
It followed an earlier call in which Kimberly was told funding for the operation had been cancelled.
Alison Taylor, 28, of Bilton Grange, has suffered from stomach problems all her life.
In January, she was diagnosed with delayed gastric emptying and told that was the reason for her constant sickness. She was due to have an experimental treatment to see if doctors could treat her sickness.
Alison said: "I was told I would going to have the trial on a Thursday in April. Then I was told it was cancelled and the consultant said he wasn't allowed to treat me. Then I had another phone call saying, 'Sorry for the confusion, but the trial is going ahead and will be on April 18'.
"Then, on Thursday, I got another call saying the funding wasn't there and the procedure wouldn't be happening."
Last week, the Mail featured the similar story of Joanne Turton, who was promised an operation on her bowel, after her condition left her with a severely bloated stomach.
For patients in the city, Hull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) will fund operations from April 1.
When asked by the Mail why surgery had been planned, if the local hospitals were not accredited to perform the procedures, a CCG spokesman said: "Obviously, if there is confusion that is very regrettable. These patients need to talk to their doctors.
"From the medical director down, they are very clear about what should happen. But I'm not in a position to say what doctors have said or not said to their patients."
Dr Yvette Oade, chief medical officer for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We are not accredited to carry out Gastro Electrical Stimulation (GES).
"As a result, the patients will not be able to undergo this procedure within one of our hospitals.
"As our clinicians are of the opinion that these patients could benefit from this new treatment, we will provide any supporting or supplementary information required by the CCG in order to progress their treatment elsewhere.
"The issue of patients being booked in only to later have their procedures cancelled is not reflective of the experience we aim to give.
"We appreciate the frustration this has caused and apologise for any confusion. We are now working to ensure all our staff are aware of the commissioning rules around GES in order that this problem is not repeated in the future."
Neither the trust or the CCG could clarify where the women's operations would take place or when.
