"7.5 hours without water waiting for elective…"

Attended for a morning gynecological procedure that stipulated I was to have nothing to drink after 6am (and nothing to eat after the previous evening). Arrived as requested at 7.30am and was left in a communal waiting room until nearly 2pm, an extremely thirsty and uncomfortable period of nearly 8 hours, until they finally took me to theatre. I was surrounded by unhappy, dehydrated women in the same position.

The hospital is responsible for the surgical list and knows perfectly well that lots of the poor women turning up in the early morning won’t be seen for many hours. Why not organize it better? It’s a classic example of arranging a service for the convenience of staff without giving the patients a second thought.