Francis so thankful for eye surgery

RELIEVED Francis Goodwin

WHEN florist Francis Goodwin was told a skin tag on his eyelid was in fact a cancerous tumour, he was stunned.

And with NHS cancer surgeries being postponed due to Covid pressures, his family feared his operation could be put on hold.

But despite having no private healthcare plan and no prospect of paying for the delicate treatment, Francis has had his surgery, is now cancer-free and recovering at home.

With waiting lists nudging 400,000 in Northern Ireland, the 56-year-old was included in a group of patients whose operations took place at a private hospital in South Belfast.

The work was carried out by the same NHS surgeon but the operating theatre and nursing staff were all part of Kingsbridge Hospital.

SERIOUS

Francis said: “I’m so grateful to have got on that list and for the work the surgeon did.

“I’d had what I thought was a stye of some sort on my bottom eyelid and it had been there for months.

“But at a routine check-up with my optician Ciaran Mccrory, he said he was concerned about it and sent me to get it looked at.”

Francis, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, underwent the four-hour operation last week. He added: “I feel very fortunate to have had the surgery. We’d no idea how serious something like that could be.

“The surgeon asked me how long I’d had the skin tag and I thought about six months, but he said it had to be a lot longer.”

Last year Kingsbridge Hospital took on more than 1,200 NHS surgeries that could otherwise have been postponed due to Covid. CEO Mark Regan said they tender for the work at the usual NHS tariff or lower.