Brave St Albans vicar will not let war veterans down (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Brave St Albans vicar will not let war veterans down

8:00am Saturday 13th March 2010 in

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A VICAR of 86 who has been refused the operation he needs to conduct an important service for fellow war veterans has pledged to carry on, despite the pain and discomfort.

Roy Day, of Hill End Lane, St Albans, who fought the Japanese at the fierce battles of Kohima and Imphal, said: "I am determined to do it.

"I may have to sit down, but I will do it, even if I am on crutches."

Roy, who as a retired vicar regularly conducts services for the Burma Star Association, developed a painful groin hernia just before Christmas and was told he would have an operation at St Albans City Hospital on May 7, allowing sufficient time to recover for the service at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire on May 26.

But last Saturday, a letter from NHS Hertfordshire told him that health chiefs, under a new procedure, were refusing to fund the operation.

Roy, a curate at St Saviour's Church in Sandpit Lane, said: "I was furious. To think that someone in Welwyn Garden City who hadn't even seen me could just strike it through.

"I am sure it is because of money and, although they won't say this, because of my age."

He has not been told why the operation has been refused, or what alternative treatment may be available.

He said: "Conducting the service is very important to me.

"For me, the Kohima Epitaph says it all. They gave their tomorrow so we could have ours today.

"I was in the trenches at Kohima - we only just managed to stop the Japanese getting into India.

"A lot of people didn't come back, including some of my friends."

His wife Audrey said: "I am very upset for Roy - these things mean a lot to him."

Phil Crawley of the Burma Star Association said: "It is very important for Roy to be there - he is our national padre.

"We have arranged a stand-by in case he can't do it, and if necessary they will conduct the service together."

The service will bring veterans to the association's grove in the memorial arboretum, as well as Viscount Slim, whose father led British Army to eventual victory in Burma.

Rose Child, spokeswoman for NHS Hertfordshire said: "Hernias are one of several treatments for which hospitals and GPs in Hertfordshire have been asked to seek prior approval from the primary care trust before operating on a patient.

"We have introduced this process to make sure that national guidance for treatments that may have limited clinical benefit is more rigorously adhered to.

"When a patient's symptoms indicate that an operation is not the most appropriate treatment then the trust does not approve funding.

"An operation is a serious procedure with risks attached so it is important that before we refer anyone for surgery all other avenues of treatment have been explored.

"Where funding is not approved then we have an appeals process in place. The patient's doctor can reapply with more information or appeal against the decision on their patient's behalf."

The Review has asked when the policy was introduced, what other operations it covers, and how many have been refused in the St Albans area.