A transplant patient performed a DIY procedure to remove her own surgical staples after watching a video on YouTube. The woman, who had been given a new pancreas, took matters into her own hands on Monday.

She claims she was forced to carry out the procedure, which should be performed by a trained medic, because her GP said she would have to wait weeks for an appointment.

Surgeons reportedly told the woman her staples would need to be removed on Sunday.

But she claims when she called the Caversham Practice in Kentish Town, North London, staff informed her the five-minute procedure could not be carried out until next week.

She told the Camden New Journal that because no appointments at her GP practice were available until February 4, she was advised to go to A&E to have the staples removed. But overstretched A&E departments at the nearby Whittington Hospital and the Royal Free in Hampstead are both facing mounting pressures.

They were both among scores of hospitals across England, missing the Government's target to see 95 per cent of all patients within four hours in December.

The woman, told the paper: 'I have just had a major operation and have serious health complications, and a seven-hour wait in A&E with lots of sick people is just not on.’

She said she felt as though she had 'no other choice', deciding on Monday to take the drastic step to turn to the internet for guidance.

'They showed it on an NHS website, so I just watched that a couple of times on my iPad,' she said.

'I watched it a couple of times and then did it. I made sure everything was sterile and washed my hands with surgical scrub. The operation has been incredibly painful. It's hurting quite badly now. But the staples are out and it went ok, I think.'

Medical experts advise that patients should not remove staples at home, and should seek expert help.