THE wife of an injured husband says the couple are "sick to death" of waiting for her husband's operation which they say has been cancelled 13 times.

Kathrine Jones, of Penarth, said her 47-year-old husband Lee has suffered with back problems ever since a ladder collapsed underneath him 21 years ago.

Mr Jones spent four months laid up in hospital to recover from the damage done to his spine but throughout the years he has experienced more pain, leading him to now require an operation.

In January 2015, Mr Jones went into the University Hospital Llandough for a 'nerve root decompression', but was referred back to the hospital for an operation to have a spinal cage fitted in March 2016.

Since then, Mrs Jones has said her husband's operation has been cancelled 13 times by the hospital, with one cancellation occurring at the last minute when her husband was ready and waiting in a hospital bed.

The couple said reasons the operation has been cancelled include surgeons being on holiday, problems with specific surgeons and no ICU beds being available.

"We just can't believe this keeps happening," said Mrs Jones, 41. "It's got to the point now where it is just ridiculous. We've had excuses after excuses. This has been going on for two years now.

"Lee is really struggling, he is mainly on crutches but has to use his wheelchair. The high amount of medication he is on also means he sometimes falls asleep on the bus coming home or when we are out, which embarrasses him but he can't help it.

"We just want answers."

However, the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said that because the surgery is complex there needs to be particular requirements in place for the procedure to go ahead.

A spokeswoman for the board said: “We unreservedly apologise to Mr Jones for the delay in having his surgery. Patient safety is paramount and in complex surgical cases there is a requirement for two surgical consultants to be present as well HDU bed capacity for the patient during their recovery.

"Unfortunately in some circumstances we need to cancel a procedure if these are not available.

"We are committed to providing the best care and expertise for our patients and our concerns team are liaising with Mr Jones and his family to discuss his concerns.”