Madge Richardson's operation at Leicester Royal Infirmary was cancelled three times after she was admitted two weeks ago. She had suffered a fall on holiday.
Mrs Richardson finally had her operation on Saturday after it was postponed three times at the last minute so doctors could deal with emergency cases. She is now recovering in hospital.
Her son Dave Richardson, of Brooke Road in Oakham, is furious with the way his mother was treated.
He said: "It is criminal my mother had to wait a week and a half because there weren't enough theatres or doctors and she is not the only person affected. There was a young girl with a broken elbow who was waiting for five days for an operation.
"The main issue is that it appears they are performing routine operations ahead of trauma operations to meet government targets and keep their funding. It's a scandal."
Mr Richardson has written to the chief executive of the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Malcolm Lowe-Lauri, and is also asking Rutland MP Alan Duncan and shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley to investigate.
He said: "Thankfully my mother was at the top of the list on Saturday. The two operations after hers were cancelled again.
"We have no complaints about the doctors or nurses but this is putting extra pressure on our hospitals. My mother was bed blocking for a week and a half just waiting for the operation."
Hospital officials have admitted they were having to cancel operations at the last minute.
A spokeswoman said: "We are sorry some of our patients waiting for their surgery have had to have it cancelled, particularly Mrs Richardson. The decision to cancel is never taken lightly. However, it is sometimes necessary to treat more seriously ill patients.
"Our trauma team is working flat out and we have extended operating hours into the evenings and weekends."
She said there were separate teams for trauma and routine operations.