A MAN who went blind in one eye while waiting for an operation on the National Health Service had to spend his life's savings to restore his sight.

Faversham Lorry driver Gordon Bullock blames East Kent Health Authority for refusing to pay for the operation, despite the fact that his GP was willing to refer him to a London eye hospital which was ready to operate with NHS funding.

He and his wife, Shirley, 60, were forced to spend their savings on the £2,500 procedure.

"It was awful to lose the sight in one eye, I was becoming desperate and I felt totally let down - heartbroken - by the NHS," said Mr Bullock, 64,

"Why should you have to pay for something you are entitled to and that you have worked your entire life for?

"This Government is forcing people to go private. Mrs Thatcher started the ball rolling and this lot have not got the guts to rectify it."

Mr Bullock, 64, began getting blurred vision in his left eye last summer and a cataract was diagnosed in August. He was told by a consultant at Kent & Canterbury Hospital that, due to his work as a lorry driver, he should expect an urgent operation within two to four months. This did not happen. His case was transferred to the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, where there were more delays and broken promises.

He eventually paid for the operation, which was conducted successfully at Moorfields Hospital, London, on Friday.

Mr Bullock claimed EKHA had refused funding because this would have opened the floodgates to others who wanted operations outside East Kent. Mr Bullock did not understand this reasoning.

EKHA said that a formal letter of complaint had been received from Mr Bullock this week, and the matter was being investigated.