cancelled/postponed ops on the NHS

[KenM]

I have a condition that I have been waiting over 4 years to have an op on. In that time I have been taken into A&E 5 times for treatment and 2 of those times i've been kept in for over a week, but all of them for a minimum of 3 days, all in relation to the same issue. on every occasion I have been admitted I have been told we'll have you in in a few weeks for surgery to fix the problem once various infections have cleared up.

I have been through pre op screening 8 times in this time period, had 4 scans and been weighed and given bloods somewhere around 10 times, been to see anesthetist 3 times and various specialists all of whom have said i need the op urgent.in addition twice they have had me go through separate screening in advance of day surgery only for me to never get a date for the op.

Imagine my surprise when 2 weeks ago i got a call if I was able to go in on last Wednesday for my op to which I agreed. I went and did bloods on the Monday, another round of pre screening on the Tuesday, and was packing my bags that evening ready to go in on Weds morning when I got the call to cancel the op...

A new date was set for today. Apparently the bloods I gave last Monday needed to be repeated so I went in yesterday and did them again, got home packed my stuff and waited for a call to cancel again which did not come. Up at 5, got a taxi to the hospital for 6.30, where according to a letter i received I had to attend a pre-op clinic before being taken to the ward. It turns out the letter had a typo and I had to be there for 8.00 not 6.30. went through screening, spoke with surgeon, spoke with anesthetist, and along with 12 other surgery hopefulls got marched upto the ward where we all got dropped off in a waiting room, and one at a time had to go strip and put on gown ready for surgery, and there we sat. 2 people before me were called through and given a bed by 12.00, by 1.00pm 1 more went through, and then at 3.00 i got called. I gathered up my stuff followed the nurse, who stopped me in the corridor and apologised when she told me the op was cancelled and i could get dressed again to go home.

I use a half days leave for every appointment and as i dont get sick pay, every time i have had to go in for a few days they all had to be taken as leave if I wanted to get paid. I worked out today that in the last 4 years I have used up nearly 2 years A/L entitlement for an operation I have not yet had. On top of that, as a single dad with 2 kids, I have run up a fair chunk in cost getting people to have my kids.

I know the NHS is stretched, but this is taking the p*ss now and I have just had enough.

have any of you been through similar? is this normal? I'm now waiting for another date sometime in the next 2-4 weeks to go back in again.

 

[Geoff P]

The NHS in Wales is one of the worst areas of the UK.

When we lived in Tonyrefail my wife had her gall bladder operation cancelled 3 times. I have arthritis in both hips and was given injections in them in March 2014, I was informed I would be called back within 6 months but heard nothing from them. I moved to Yorkshire in September 2015 without hearing a word from them.

Luckily the local NHS is top notch.

 

[160642fishing]

One of our club members has had a similar,not quite so bad,experience having a new hip fitted,I was under the impression that if the NHS couldn't do your op inside a certain time they had to send you to either another hospital that could or send you to a private hospital

 

[bezzer]

Originally posted by 160642fishing

One of our club members has had a similar,not quite so bad,experience having a new hip fitted,I was under the impression that if the NHS couldn't do your op inside a certain time they had to send you to either another hospital that could or send you to a private hospital

Yes I thought that too. My Father was scheduled to have a full knee replacement. It was cancelled at the last minute 3 times. Eventually the NHS sent him to a private hospital to have it done. The ridiculous thing was, the surgeon who was going to do it on the NHS did it at the Private Hospital! No doubt earning a nice wad of cash for his troubles.

Maybe the NHS to Private referral thing is an NHS England agreement only...

Anyway, I hope you get your operation soon Ken.

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

Operations get cancelled for a variety of reasons. But this seems an excessive case.

The first person to speak with is the surgeon's secretary. If you can get them on your side you are halfway there to getting fixed up. They should be able to tell you where you are on any waiting list and the approximate date the operation will be done.

If that gets you nowhere then raise a complaint via the hospital's chief executive and send copies to both your MP and Welsh Assembly Member.

 

[Wise Owl]

I sympathise with anyone who has had ops cancelled, but i have had 2 big ones where it needed doing more or less straight away so cancelling some others, and with the way its going i cant see it getting any better []

 

[KenM]

cheers guys, I've had time to reflect/calm down a little, and I am just glad I didn't spout off at the nurse who told me it was cancelled, Deffo not her fault although at the time I could easily have said a few choice words. I havent felt this micked off over something for a long time, and as the day dragged on I could feel myself slowly stewing

From what I understand, every time they moved me from one surgery list to the next (i.e. general surgery to day surgery and back again) then I was moved to the bottom of the list each time which has not helped. I have heard the 3 times rule, so will be interesting to see if it applies here, and at what point in the process they decide that a cancelled/changed procedure counts as one of the 3. I will give them 2 weeks to get back in touch with a new date and if nothing then I will make a formal complaint and see what happens.

I did get a wry smile from the surgeon yesterday when I pointed out that I had seen her in the same office in 2013 to go over the detail for the same operation.....She did suggest that there had been some changes in procedure over that time that will make the op easier which made feel so much better for the delays......

 

[banksy]

Hope you get it sorted soon Ken, that must be so frustrating.

I needed an op to repair my ankle, and had it cancelled twice.

The first time, it was due to a serious traffic accident admission, which is fair enough.

After a second day fasting, I was all prepped up when the surgeon told me the op was being cancelled again, because he did not have an anaesthetist available, thanks to the bungling of the hospital admin.
He actually suggested to me that I should sue the hospital, and that he would have no hesitation in doing so, in my place.

I didn't.

 

[Wise Owl]

Hope yer get sorted mate [:T] when i was told the surgeon that operated on me was an hour away from another op on someone else i was a bit sad for em.

 

[10slacky]

Its gonna get worse.

 

[fishmadbert]

In reply to KenM, A few months ago i went to my GP with what i thought to be a heavy dose of hayfever. After a couple of courses of antibiotics without change in my condition, i mentioned in passing that the "Hayfever" was also causing severe headaches. I was duly sent for an MRI scan which showed that my sinuses where the problem. The doc then told me of an "incidental" finding. A suspected brain aneurism, So i was sent back for a CT scan, this confirmed the diagnosis. My doc told me I should stop work straight away and that the aneurism was measured at 11.9mm. 7mm is cause for concern. Doc then sent my case to the neuro center at walton hospital marked as URGENT. The time span from me going to the doc's and them sending my case to neuro was 3 weeks. I have have been waiting for nearly 2 months just for a reply.[!]

Cheers Fishmadbert

 

[G0zzer2]

Gosh that is so frightening. But not sure why you can't take the time as sick leave - I'm not up to date with the system.

 

[groundhog]

[] Ken M mate,Don't wait any longer,sit down and calmly list all the dates and everything else,then get in touch with your consultants secretary and explain it all to her and ask if she can have a word with the consultant,and confirm a date for the op to be done with him/her,and see where that gets you.[:T]
Best of luck Ken I can understand your frustration and anger at the situation,your reaction is no different to a lot of other people given what you have been put through.[:T]

 

[KenM]

Well I now have a new date for the Op of 15th March. so lets see what happens this time around.

 

[bezzer]

Fingers crossed Ken.....