"Long uncomfortable day"

The surgery was Tuesday 12th September on ward 11 and was for a hernia operation.

I was informed to arrive for 12 noon and arrived at 11:30, I was asked to wait in a waiting room that had room for 7 chairs. The room was very small and did not comfortably sit 7 people. Had it been a short wait this would not have been an issue but I ended up spending 6 and a half hours in the room on very uncomfortable chairs. Everyone in the room had been told to arrive at the same time and it was not till 4:30 that I ended up going in for surgery. I was expecting to wait a couple hours but I think nearly 5 hours waiting was not acceptable. I came round from surgery about 6pm and was asked to get ready and leave the bad about 20 minutes later. I really struggled to get up and could not stand let alone get changed into my clothes. With a bit of help from the nurse I managed and had to sit back in the waiting room. I suffer from lower back problems from time to time and after all the sitting in chairs I was in a lot of pain from my back as well as from the surgery. By 8pm I felt I could not sit any longer and had to request to be discharged. This meant I was unable to receive any pain killing medication and my wife had to return 2 days later for this.

I was informed that my stitches were absorbant and that I would not have to return however today I have removed my dressing and have found that I have had staples which are not absorbant.

I understand that places are very stretched at the moment but I really think the amount of waiting was far too much and there was no thought given to the pain I was in or the comfort of those having to wait excessive times. Also I feel that not everyone had a full idea about what was taking place which is really worrying, especially being given incorrect information about follow ups. During the day everyone in the waiting room was complaining about the lack of information on wait times and the waiting itself.