A YOUNG herdsman from Trowbridge has labelled the NHS a disgrace after medics failed to save part of his hand, accidentally injected with a cow vaccine in a freak farming accident.

Craig Watson, 21, of Chapel Lane, Wingfield, has criticised Bath's Royal United Hospital NHS Trust and is considering legal action against a second Trust, following his accident at a West Sussex farm last summer.

The former Lackham College student, who was forced to give up his home and career in West Sussex and move back to Wiltshire after his little finger and hand bone were removed, said he feared he might never work in farming again.

Mr Watson is planning to sue Brighton and West Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust after medics at the Princess Royal Hospital, in Heywood Heath, sent him home with antibiotics, despite instructions from the drug manufacturers stating surgery was paramount.

Nine months on and 16 operations later the 21-year-old is still reliant on morphine and suffers from recurring infections caused by the antibiotic oil in his hand.

Meanwhile doctors at the Royal United Hospital, who have been treating Mr Watson since January, told him they could not afford to run an MRI scan, which would show up the oil, because of the £2,000 cost.

But this week they took a u-turn by moving Mr Watson to the top of a four-month waiting list, which could show he needs a second finger removed.

Speaking of his nine-month hell, Mr Watson said: "I feel let down by the NHS system. I help to pay for the service and it has failed me.

"The standards in the hospitals are disgusting. Now they are taking action but it is a year too late for me.

"The consultants are now saying if I had had an MRI scan it would have showed up the oil. They said they didn't see any relevance of an MRI scan and now it is suddenly urgent.

"I kept getting excuses like the NHS couldn't afford to do the scan. From their point of view they are being careful but I want to get on with my life."

Mr Watson was working as a dairy herdsman at a farm in Heywood Heath last July when he accidentally injected himself with a bovine antibiotic.

"I phoned the vet and he said get to the hospital straight away. I took instructions to the hospital, which said surgery would be required immediately and I was sent away with antibiotics," he said.

"Three hours later my hand swelled-up. I was black and blue and in agony. Within 20 minutes I was in surgery."

Transferred to a hospital in East Grinstead, he underwent surgery to remove a finger and metacarpal bone, but the problems did not end there.

Mr Watson said: "The problem is it's not an infection, it is the fact this drug is inside me and nobody would accept it.

"In Sussex I kept quiet and lost my finger but now I am piping up.

"Surgically they will not be able to see anything so it will be up to me what part of my hand I want to lose. It is like a case of choose your own fate."

A spokesman for the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We are sorry for the distress this accident has caused.

"We have carried out a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Watson's treatment and have shared the results of that investigation with him in a letter."

A statement from the Royal United Hospital NHS Trust said it welcomed a formal complaint from Mr Watson so his case could be fully investigated.