UPSET patients have spoken out over their anger a clinic at Warrington Hospital has been suspended without anyone being told.

Susan Grant, from Gorse Covert, says she had been trying to call the ear, nose and throat (ENT) clinic on numerous occasions two weeks ago before she was finally told she would have to go to Widnes instead.

The 69-year-old said many people are frustrated over the lack of information and her doctor told her the closure had caused 'chaos'.

Susan, who has to have her ears dry suctioned every three to four months or she suffers from infections which affect her balance, said: "I had made 22 calls trying to get an appointment but there was no answer so I phoned the complaints department.

"They told me the nurse who usually runs the clinic was off sick and nobody else was available to do the job so I would have to see my GP to get an urgent referral to the consultant."

Susan has since been told she will need another urgent referral from her GP to visit the clinic at Highfield Hospital in Widnes.

She added: "It's totally unacceptable we have been left high and dry.

"I have been going there for 15 years and then the management thinks it's okay to drop the service and not let anyone know.

"I'm disabled and don't know Widnes at all so I don't know how I'm going to get there and they're going to be inundated with patients from Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn so it could take months."

A spokesman for Warrington Hospital said they were working to make sure there was a 'suitable alternative provision' as soon as possible.

He added: "Unfortunately, it has been temporarily unavailable due to long term sickness.

"We are exploring options for one of our doctors to provide these clinics at the hospital.

"An alternative is to use clinics available at Highfield Hospital in Widnes to ensure that patients can access these services.

"We will be finalising arrangements as soon as possible and patients have been told that if they are having any problems at all in the meantime to contact their GP surgery.

"We will work to provide any support that we can to patients in case of any queries about their care but we are confident that the new services will be in place shortly.”