Ref. 26482-86Heart patient Maria Chivers was so frustrated with the poor service at the GWH that she staged a five-and-a-half hour sit-in at the hospital.

She refused to leave the hospital foyer because staff kept losing her records and failing to make appointments after she suffered a suspected heart attack. Following the protest, in September, Maria, 48, from Blunsdon, was given the scan she needed.

Like many people, she believes the hospital is too small. She said: "Since my protest, I have noticed that the service has improved, although I don't know whether that was because of what I did.

"The doctors and nurses have always been great, I was just frustrated with the way the paperwork was handled.

"It's a nice hospital, but I can't see how it will cope with Swindon's expansion.

"We have thousands of new homes being built and around 33,000 new people coming here."