HEALTH chiefs have apologised for making a pensioner wait six months to have her toenails cut.

Marjorie Hawkins has been sitting at home "waiting to die" because Bromley Primary Care Trust (PCT) stopped sending a chiropodist to treat her feet.

She had a weekly visit until last August when she was photographed on her disabled scooter after coming back from a shop, which is a few minutes away.

The chiropodist said Mrs Hawkins, of Saltwood Close, Orpington, was mobile so the service stopped.

She says her toenails have now grown so long she says she cannot put her shoes on anymore.

The retired waitress was told to use the dial-a-ride minibus service to go to the Saxon Centre, Lychgate Road, Orpington.

But this is several miles from her home and would involve pick-ups on the way.

Eighty-two-year-old Mrs Hawkins has problems with her lungs and can only breathe on her own for a few minutes before having to use an oxygen tank.

The great-grandmother-of five said: "I'm waiting to die now and I think it is disgusting. If my husband was alive he would be so upset to see me like this."

Her doctor wrote four letters to the PCT about the situation. But she did not get a response so Mrs Hawkins contacted News Shopper to ask for our help.

She will now have her toenails cut this week.

A trust spokesman said: "We prefer to provide podiatry care in our clinics wherever possible.

"We are sorry there has been gap in the service received by Mrs Hawkins, and an appointment has been arranged at a clinic later this week.

"We will be writing to her with a response to her complaint very shortly."