A WOMAN struggling to live off £15 a week after paying her mortage and utility bills, spoke of her frustration at the six-month delay on her pension.

Sharon Cleasby, 54, of Boytons, Basildon, must choose between heating her home or eating, while she waits for an NHS pension which has still not been approved.

Mrs Cleasby, a former clinical support worker at Basildon Hospital, had to take early retirement on medical grounds in April after she suffered a stroke in August last year.

Mrs Cleasby, who also suffers from diabetes and was recently treated for internal bleeding in her chest, said her pension should have come through in June.

After waiting several months and struggling on benefits, the pensions department at the NHS told Mrs Cleasby another form needed to be sent from Basildon Hospital.

She claims to have filled in the form at the hospital’s personnel department in August.

Mrs Cleasby said: “I have been shuffled from one department to another for several months and nobody’s been taking responsibility for what’s happening. When you’re on a low income you’re worrying all the time about bills.

“I have to choose whether I eat or put the heating on. I can’t afford both.

“After bills and the mortgage I’m left with about £15 a week to buy all my food and shopping.

“I can’t keep asking my family to help me out.”

Luenne Featherstone, communications manager at Basildon Hospital, said: “This is an internal staffing matter. We are working with Mrs Cleasby and the NHS Pensions Agency to get the situation sorted out as quickly as possible.”

Elizabeth Holland, a spokeswoman for the NHS Business Services Authority, said she could not discuss an individual member’s pension.

She said: “Until we receive the forms we cannot act on anything.

“If someone has been told we have not received the forms, they have either been lost in the post or not received.”