A GRANDMOTHER fighting skin cancer was told to make her own way to an appointment 30 miles away.

Ria Lewis, of Forrest Road, Colchester, said she had always been offered hospital transport in the past two years after she was referred to a specialist at Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford.

Her GP found a new lesion and once again referred her, with Mrs Lewis being given an appointment tomorrow.

When she rang the hospital to ask for transport, she was refused.

The service is run by the East of England Ambulance Trust and is commissioned by the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

Mrs Lewis, 75, said: “They said tough, it was down to money and they are no longer able to. It’s disgusting.

I’m really angry about this and not just for me.

“I live in a place where there are about 100 bungalows with elderly people. How are any of us meant to get there?

“You can’t rely on your families and shouldn’t have to if they live so far away. They work, too.”

Mrs Lewis’s daughter has had to take a day off work to take her mother to the appointment, losing her money.

Mrs Lewis said: “I can’t afford a taxi all the way to Broomfield and it really isn’t fair on my daughter that she has to now take me.

“This community bus was doing a great service before and now it is just gone. Theywouldn’t even explain why it is no longer available. They just kept saying it was ‘tough’ A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: “We take any complaints regarding the way our staff communicate with patients very seriously and would encourage Mrs Lewis to contact our patient services team to discuss the issue.

“Our staff are trained to the highest standard and we expect them to treat patients with the utmost dignity and respect at all times.

“Having listened to the call with Ms Lewis it appears that these values were upheld by our call handler, but we would welcome the opportunity to discuss her concerns further.”