A woman who lost half of her stomach in a life-saving emergency operation has complained to the NHS about the medical care she received from her local GP practice in Melksham.

Sheila Pickett is upset about the way she was treated by doctors at the Gifford Surgery in Spa Road after first complaining about abdominal problems as far back as October 2019.

The 68-year-old lost half of her stomach in March after undergoing a life-saving operation at Bath’s Royal United Hospital.

Mrs Pickett, of Woodstock Gardens, said: “On March 7, following two 111 calls, I was rushed to the RUH where an emergency operation was performed in the evening.

“The surgeon removed 50 per cent of my stomach as it was said to be ‘dead’ – full of undigested rotten food.”

Her husband, Chris Pickett, 73, said: “The surgeon told me that Sheila was ‘lucky to be alive’ as the stomach had perforated, allowing food to get into the body cavity.”

Mrs Pickett says she was told to take Omeprazole by Melksham GPs after suffering bouts of intermittent nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain which had not been relieved by over-the-counter remedies for acid reflux.

Finally, in July last year, after three bouts of severe pain, nausea and vomiting, the GPs referred her to RUH consultants for an endoscopy.

At that point, that might have prevented her from needing the emergency operation but Mrs Pickett was put on a 10-month waiting list for an appointment in May 2021 because of NHS pressures caused by the Covid pandemic.

On March 2, Mrs Pickett suffered yet another more serious episode. “I could not control the pain, the vomiting was constant. Taking liquids or food of any kind was not possible,” she said.

She obtained a same-day telephone consultation and finally a doctor agreed to a face-to-face appointment at the surgery the next day.

After seeing the pain Mrs Pickett was suffering, the GP arranged for blood tests and an chest X-ray at the RUH which revealed a “very large” hiatus hernia.

On March 5, Mrs Pickett went to the RUH for an endoscopy, only to be told her stomach had ‘too much food in it so nothing could be done’.

“I had not eaten anything since March 1 and was still in pain but I was sent home with another appointment for March 17.”

She was told to call 111 if her condition worsened, which it did on March 6 and she was admitted on March 7.

She said: “In my opinion, the NHS is very poor until you get to the emergency situation when it is absolutely brilliant but why does it have to be like this?

“When you attend the surgery, current symptoms are all that the GPs consider. There is no holistic approach to the patients who do not regularly attend the surgery.

“They are reluctant to seek hospital second opinion at the earliest stage due, I am told, to cost.”

Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group said it could not comment on individual cases.

A spokesman said: “We are assured that Giffords Surgery will always work with patients directly to reach a conclusion, as has been the case on this occasion.

“Our GP practices are committed to providing their patients with the highest standard of care, and when this involves being referred elsewhere for further investigations, this is always actioned efficiently and promptly based on clinical guidelines.”