Mole mapping machine mess at Norfolk and Norfolk Hospital

The £50,000 Horus mole mapping machine was donated to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) in June 2023.

The delay in the device being put to use comes as it was revealed a patient at the hospital waited 345 days for skin cancer treatment.

Wendy Evans, 80, donated the machine following the death of her son Neil, aged 48, in June 2021 after he had been diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer.

He died in Sydney, Australia, where he had lived since 2004.

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Mrs Evans, who spearheaded the fundraising mission as a tribute to her son, is demanding answers as to why the device is not being put to use by health bosses.
Neil Evans, the first Norfolk person to play badminton for England, died in Australia in 2021. (Image: Supplied by family) "It is absolutely crazy that after our huge fundraising efforts, which saw many many people come together to donate or equally partake in our endeavours, the machine we bought after raising £50,000 is still sitting in its box," Mrs Evans said.

"As a family we simply want answers, do the NNUH still want the machine, when do they plan to use it, and why has it taken so long?

"If there isn't any clarity soon we will offer it to another hospital, my son was from Gorleston so it would be fitting if James Paget would accept the machine."

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Mrs Evans, from Gorleston, did thank some consultants at the hospital who have been pushing for the machine to be put into use.

Neil Evans, at 15-years-old, wearing his England badminton team tracksuit. (Image: Wendy Evans)

A report from the EDP on February 16, 1988, when 15-year-old Neil Evans was called up to play badminton for the England junior team. (Image: Archant)

NORFOLK'S FIRST-EVER NATIONAL BADMINTON COMPETITOR

Neil Evans was a sports enthusiast in his youth, playing football, tennis, cricket and golf.

When he was 15, he was the first person from Norfolk selected to play badminton for the England junior team.

He competed at under-15 and under-16 levels, travelling all over the country and to Ireland and the Netherlands, winning the under-16 All England boys doubles title.

Unfortunately, a serious ankle injury when he was 17 cut short his badminton career.

Neil had attended Cliff Park Junior and High Schools and before going to university - at Loughborough, where he would study banking and finance - he took a year off and travelled to Australia.

He never forgot the place and in 2004 emigrated there, where he worked in banks, becoming division director of Macquarie.

In 2017, he was diagnosed with melanoma.

Mr Evans was an Ipswich Town FC season ticket holder.