Tests showed the cancer is now within a millimetre of his brain.

Dr James Wrench said his patient risked death

Mr Jones will undergo radical surgical treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Dyfed-Powys Health Authority has announced it will be carrying out a full investigation into the delays in Mr Jones's treatment.

Earlier this month, a leading Welsh cancer consultant said Mr Jones could have been treated far sooner in Wales.

The 66-year-old, from the English border town of Hay-on-Wye, has waited 15-months for treatment of a squamous cell carcinoma type of cancer on his right ear.

Peter Barrett Lee, a senior consultant at Cardiff's specialist Velindre cancer hospital said a referral to a cancer clinic at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport could have saved Mr Jones months of agony.

Diary of Delays

June 2000 - Diagnosed August 2000 - Radiotherapy, Cheltenham Hospital January 2001 - Dr Wrench concerned March 2001 - Referred to Birmingham specialists August 2001 - Case deemed urgent 19 October, 2001 - Operation due

"My feeling is that these patients should be treated with a rapid access system, " he said.

Any patient with a difficult skin cancer can be seen at the Royal Gwent clinic - where Mr Barrett Lee is part of the team - within a month.

"At that clinic we have plastic surgeons, cancer physicians and skin consultants."

Powell Jones: Surgery due next week

Welsh Health Minister Jane Hutt called for the inquiry into the case of Mr Jones.

Mr Jones's GP James Wrench had first referred Mr Powell to hospitals in England for care.

He said that family doctors like him need more information and more freedom as to where to send patients for the best treatment.

In March, doctors agreed he needed a complex operation to remove part of his face within days.

It took three months to arrive at the 19 October date for surgery and his GP has claimed a catalogue of errors and delays had worsened his patient's condition.