A patient is calling for improved hospital procedures after an operation mix-up.

Lesley Waters has hit out after Medway Maritime sent a letter to her doctor saying she had had an operation when she had not.

Ms Waters, a full-time carer for her son, had an appointment on November 2 to have three kidney stones removed and a stent put in place.

The 60-year-old said: “I arrived at 7am and my appointment was at 11am. I appreciate there are emergencies but I was still waiting to be seen at 3.30pm.

“I ended up walking out because my son was at home – I did inform them though.

“My son understood the routine and that I would be home later that day after the operation.

“But when it got too late and I knew I wasn’t going to recover in time to be discharged the same day, I had to think of him as well as myself. There’s no way I could have left him overnight.”

Ms Waters, who has been suffering from kidney stones since February, contacted Dr Simon Witts at the Sheerness Health Centre on Thursday.

She wanted to see if her procedure could be referred to another hospital as she had “lost all faith” in Medway.

However, to her surprise, he said he had received a letter from the hospital saying her kidney stones had been removed and the stent had been put in.

Ms Waters, of Harris Road, Sheerness, said: “I was in shock – that is the only way to describe it.

“I wanted to cry as I just couldn’t believe it and I was worried my doctor wasn’t going to believe me or think I was crazy.

“All I kept thinking was, how am I going to prove this? The only way would be via an X-ray!”

“I was confused by it all,” she added.

“Before I went to Dr Witts, I received a letter from Medway saying there was another appointment booked for me on November 30 but he got a letter saying I’d had it done.

“He was very annoyed by what had happened.”

Ms Waters said this was the second time she had fallen victim to a mix-up at Medway hospital.

She said: “Last September, I was in hospital about to have my appendix taken out and I noticed the name on my wristband wasn’t mine.

“It turned out me and the lady next to me had each other’s name tags on. It was a good job I was conscious as I would have had a biopsy instead.”

Ms Waters made a complaint about her most recent ordeal to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at Medway hospital last Thursday and is awaiting a response.

MP Gordon Henderson and Dr Witts have also lodged a complaint to Medway Maritime Hospital about Ms Water’s ordeal.