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My operation was cancelled

Posted By CJAC

"My operation was cancelled"

About: Forth Valley Royal Hospital / Orthopaedic Ward B23

(as a relative),

My grandfather attended forth valley for a TKR at the NTC due to the extensive waiting lists at Glasgow. He has been waiting nearly two years so he was happy he was finally getting his TKR. He was supposed to be taken today and was told to arrive at 11:30am. At 14:30pm he was told by the Dr that he was unable to do the procedure because they had no kits left and also they had no bed available for him afterwards. 

This is totally unacceptable. Surely provisions should be put in place and adequate stock should be available for patients who are elective and if not then this should be cancelled before travelling as there was plenty of time. Surely, stock issues would have been identified in the am and not when they go to do the procedure? He has also been told he will go back on the waiting list - again unacceptable. He should have been given a date and time before they discharged him.

Not only have they cancelled an operation that my grandfather has been needing and waiting so long for but the provisions that had to be put in place for this to go ahead in the first place has been a challenge.

My grandfather is the main carer for my grandmother who is unable to be left alone. I have had to take time off of work to be able to step in and care for my grandmother. I am now unsure if I will be able to get this time again when he has this rescheduled.

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Responses

Response from Alex Eadie, Operational Manager, Trauma & Orthopaedics, NHS Forth Valley 3 months ago
Alex Eadie
Operational Manager, Trauma & Orthopaedics,
NHS Forth Valley

Submitted on 13/03/2025 at 17:29
Published on Care Opinion at 17:29

Good afternoon,

I am sorry to read about your experience. I can only imagine the range of emotions your grandfather would have gone through to have his long awaited operation cancelled, and I appreciate all of the planning that has gone into the day for you all as a family.

If you could please get in touch and provide your grandfather's details so I can look into this further, my email is alex.eadie@nhs.scot.

Please note in order for me to look into this, I will require your grandfather's consent. Once I receive the details, I will get in touch with him to confirm his consent.

Kind regards,

Alex

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Update posted by CJAC (a relative)

Thank you for responding to my care opinion in regards to my grandfathers cancelled TKR on the 5th March.

I am responding again on his behalf, quite frankly disappointed. My grandfather has given consent for me to act on his behalf and this should be attached to his file already as we have spoken with a member of staff. I was told he would have an appointment back out within a 2 -4 week time frame and this is why I didn’t respond initially to the care opinion as we thought this would be sorted.

We had received another date to return in April. This morning it has been cancelled yet again - because the orthopaedic surgeon is not available on that day. Surely again this would have been checked prior to booking the appointment? My grandfathers daughter has booked flights to come and look after my grandfather and grandmother post operation. She’s taken time off of her work this time to be there and now it has been cancelled yet again.

Just to give you a bit of insight, my grandfather is my grandmothers carer. She has Parkinsons, is extremely frail and relies on him as she cannot be left alone. The first time the operation got cancelled was really disappointing as you can see from my care opinion. Forth valley is not our catchment but we made arrangements for this to be sorted. He has been sent there due to the GRI waiting list initiative. He sat for 3 hours and was then told there was no kits left, and a bed for him to go to afterwards. I had taken carers leave from work to be there and the provisions that were put in place were difficult to arrange in the first place.

It is quite frankly disappointing that this has happened again. I had spoke with GRI and had told them of this issue and was told we could transfer his care back to GRI but he would be waiting up to a year to get this operation done. We again decided FV was the best option and again waited to now be told this. He is really disheartened.

My grandfather is struggling with his ADLs, mobility and also being a carer on top of this comes with expected pressures and difficulties. Can someone please inform me why this has happened again, when should we expect to be notified of another appointment, and can we have faith that this will go ahead?

Response from Alex Eadie, Operational Manager, Trauma & Orthopaedics, NHS Forth Valley 3 months ago
Alex Eadie
Operational Manager, Trauma & Orthopaedics,
NHS Forth Valley

Submitted on 21/03/2025 at 16:18
Published on Care Opinion at 16:18

Good afternoon,

Thank you for speaking with me by telephone today. If there is any further support or information you require, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards,

Alex

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