AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD girl has been left “in horrific pain” after a planned operation to remove her tonsils was cancelled amid a shortage of sterile surgical equipment.

Benedetta Jowers, from Erskine, is among around 700 patients who have seen their operations cancelled across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in the past two weeks after the region’s central decontamination unit was temporarily closed in the wake of a critical report by inspectors.

The health board confirmed that all scheduled tonsillectomies in the region have been cancelled. Other elective procedures such as hip or knee replacements have also been hit, as have a some urgent cancer surgeries.

Benedetta’s mother, Jean, said her daughter was “totally devastated” after being told yesterday morning that her operation at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow would not go ahead today.

Known to her friends and family as Detta, the Bargarran Primary School pupil has been on the waiting list for a tonsillectomy since February this year - but now her mother fears she will have to wait until February or even March next year for a new appointment.

Mrs Jowers, a primary school teacher, said: “Detta spent last New Year in and out of A&E because of the severity of her tonsillitis, she’s been on the waiting list since February, we finally got a date for tomorrow and now they’ve cancelled, and they have cancelled every tonsillectomy for the last two weeks because they’ve got no equipment.

“They texted me to say it can’t ahead. I feel absolutely gutted for her. She’s got a big good luck unicorn balloon, the bag is packed ready to go, and now we’re back in limbo.

“They say it’ll be January or February before we can get another appointment, but there will be two weeks’ worth of other children who have also had their operations cancelled so I worry that it will easily end up being February or March now before she goes in.”

Detta, who will be nine on Monday, has missed around 70% of school as a result of painful complications caused by her tonsillitis.

The Cowlairs Decontamination Unit in Glasgow was shut down in mid-November after inspectors raised safety concerns about the fabric of the building.

The unit sterilises surgical equipment for hospitals across the entire Greater Glasgow and Clyde region. It re-opened on a phased basis yesterday, but the backlog of tools still needing cleaned is having a knock-on effect on operations.

The health board said it is also arranging additional theatre capacity and said cancelled operations would take place “as soon as possible”.

A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said: “As a result of work at the Cowlairs Decontamination Unit being temporarily suspended, a number of planned operations across all of our hospitals, including the Royal Hospital for Children, had to be postponed.

“The unit has now re-opened on a phased basis and work is ongoing to bring the unit back into full production.”