Ray hopes the swelling will go down so he can enjoy a pizza and a pint again (Picture: North News & Pictures Ltd)

A former NHS worker who couldn’t get a dentist appointment found out he had an aggressive cancerous tumour – but only after he paid to go private.

Ray, 64, had to undergo a 16-hour surgery and months of radiotherapy to tackle the cancer in his jaw.

And while he rung the bell to signal the end of his cancer treatment last week, Ray believes he wouldn’t be here today if he hadn’t forked out for that private appointment.

Ray previously had a tooth removed, but the swelling remained and by Christmas he wasn’t able to eat some foods.

He tried to book an NHS appointment but couldn’t get one at his previous practice.

He told the Northern Echo: ‘If I hadn’t been able to afford to go private, I might not be here to tell my story.

‘We’re lucky that we could afford to pay. Even if we’d had to save up over time it might have been too late.

‘I couldn’t get an NHS appointment and was told by one practice they had an 800-long waiting list, but I could see them the next week if I paid £50 for a private appointment.

‘I decided to pay it and when I went I had an x-ray done. That’s when they found the tumour.’

Ray was fast-tracked to hospital where he was diagnosed on January 26, and he received the grueling life-saving surgery on February 14.

Roy couldn’t get an appointment at his usual NHS practice (Picture: PA)

Surgeons cut into the right side of his face and removed part of his jaw to access the tumour and remove it. Bone and muscle from his leg was moved to his face to create a new jaw, and a skin graft was done on his leg.

He recovered in hospital for six weeks after the surgery, before undergoing daily radiotherapy sessions to ensure the cancer had been eliminated.

Currently Ray can only consume liquids, and he has a tube fitted to his stomach to provide the nutrients he needs.

He said: ‘When I asked the consultant how long it’d take to get back to normal, he said it would be a new normal.

‘I can’t wait for the day I can have a pizza and a pint.

‘What’s happened has happened. The consultant said he doesn’t know how much the swelling will go down but I’m hopeful.

‘It’s already a lot smaller than it was as soon as I came out of hospital.

‘Everyone at the hospital has been fantastic.

‘It doesn’t seem like much, but some people wouldn’t be able to afford £50 for a private appointment and wouldn’t be as lucky as me.

‘Getting an appointment quick could make all the difference.’

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Ray’s MP, Mary Kelly Foy, raised his story at Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this month and led a debate on the state of NHS dentistry in Durham last week.

She says County Durham has become a ‘dental desert’ as there are no practices in the county accepting new NHS patients.

Ms Foy added: ‘More than 1,000 dentists have left the NHS since the pandemic – NHS dentistry now exists on paper but not in practice.

‘If Ray had not been able to afford private treatment he might not be here today.

‘It is morally wrong that anyone is put in that position – yet affordable dental care continues to decay before our eyes.’

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‘We’re lucky that we could afford to pay. Even if we’d had to save up over time it might have been too late.’