"The district nurse showed up without warning"

I had a hernia operation and came out worse- it was supposed to be half day operation, but there were complications and I was in for four days. These things happen, no fault of the hospital, but it left me with bladder problems, and I was fitted with a catheter.

On Monday morning, I had arranged to take my wife to see a medical specialist at Hinchingbrooke Hospital at 10am. We had to wait a long time to get this specialist appointment. But at 9am the district nurse (Doddington district nurses) showed up without warning and said no, I couldn't leave, I had to stay at home. I had to rush to make other arrangements for transport for my wife, which thankfully worked out in the end.

This was not an urgent visit, it was just to replace a catheter - one day either way would have made no difference. But no one notified me. Don't you think the district nurse should notify patients a week, or even a day before? What would have happened if we were already on our way?

I tried to raise this issue by calling the district nurse switchboard, and didn't get anywhere. I was told the district nurses themselves don't make the decisions, they are told where to go and who to expect when they get there. I don't know who to talk to about this, as I really think something needs to be done. The NHS always says people should try and make it to their appointments and not waste time and resources, but systems like this don't make it easy .