A WOMAN with a broken finger was turned away from Basildon Hospital because nurses could not get her ring off.

Joyce Allarakhia, 51, went to the Accident and Emergency department after she fell down a ladder while trying to get her Christmas decorations out of her loft.

Nurses told her before they could Xray and treat the swollen middle finger they needed to cut off her ring, which was a gift from her husband.

A male nurse brought a toolbox into the cubicle, which contained three ring cutters, but Mrs Allarakhia, of London Road, Bowers Gifford, watched in pain as he failed to get any of them working.

She was then told she would have to go to another hospital as they could not treat her.

Mrs Allarakhia said: “I’m not blaming the nurse because he did try to help.

“This is down to management at the hospital.

“It must be pretty routine for patients to come in with broken fingers, so surely the equipment should be checked to make sure it is in working order.”

She added: “It makes you wonder what else in the hospital is broken.”

Mrs Allarakhia made the 14-mile journey to Southend Hospital, on Wednesday afternoon, where X-rays confirmed her finger was broken.

She is now recovering at home after doctors put her finger in a splint to enable the broken bone to mend without surgery.

A spokeswoman for Basildon Hospital said: “We are really sorry the ring cutter was not working at the time Mrs Allarakhia attended our A&E department.

“As soon as staff were aware of the problem, they arranged to have the machine fixed, and it was working again later that day.”