A GRIEVING widower hit out at Wycombe Hospital in a eulogy reading at his wife's funeral claiming the service let them down.

Arthur Hawkswell of Carrington Avenue, Flackwell Heath, told the congregation on Tuesday, how he watched helplessly as his "beautiful princess" Margaret, 68, slowly deteriorated from Parkinsons disease and a leaking lung.

Family friend Michael Colborne spoke on behalf of Mr Hawkswell, to explain how an operation for chest pain and blocked arteries for himself had been cancelled four times by the hospital putting a tremendous stress on his wife.

Speaking to the 120 mourners at the funeral at Christ Church, Flackwell Heath, he added: "Eventually in April 2005 I had my operation and it was successful, but the damage to Margaret's health had already been done.

"On those last three days, Margaret was unable to visit me as she said she was feeling too short of breath.

"A month later, Margaret collapsed in our lounge.

"She was taken to Wycombe Hospital but released the next day."

Mr Hawkswell had come home at around 10.30am on September 3, after buying a birthday card in the village, to find his wife collapsed on the floor with her head wedged beneath a kitchen cupboard.

He said: "Deep down I knew she was dead as soon as I saw her."

Mr Hawkswell believes the stress of his cancelled operations hastened his wife's death.

In an earlier interview Mr Hawkswell told the Free Press that both he and his wife felt "isolated" by medical staff.

He said: "What is the point of modern medicines and technology if we have to deal with this on our own like a desert island.

"I watched Margaret getting worse. She had difficulty breathing and lost her appetite."

Dr Andrew Kirk, director of Buckinghamshire Hospital Medical Trust, said he did not have the notes for Mr Hawkswell so he could not comment on his treatment or whether the cancelled operations may have contributed to his wife's deterioration.

He invited the family to seek a meeting with the trust if they had any further concerns about Mrs Hawkswell's treatment and they would look into it further.