"Got told on arrival that unfortunately surgery needs to be rebooked"

I suffer from sleep apnoea, was referred for surgery over 2 years ago, finally got some good news mid June 22 from Antrim area booking office that I could be offered a slot for the procedure to be done. Procedure was booked in after calling Antrim booking office was told the date was booked for end of June 22. When I asked the exact procedure and if any other steps are required was told not their department they are bookings only and that I need to contact the secretary of the consulting doctor.

Followed their instructions attempted to call the secretary after a very long wait on hold put through to secretary line only to hear a voicemail stating unfortunately secretary for my doctor in ENT is off until the following week. Called ENT  again to speak to a different secretary but they advised that only the doctor's secretary could discuss my procedure details upon this I asked if the doctor could call me to discuss this further I was told unfortunately my specific doctor does not work on Fridays and I would need to call back at a later date.

During this I notified my management of the procedure as I was unsure of the amount if time I would require and coming up to June/July getting time off is not an easy thing to do and trying to survive on sick pay would be a challenge. I had to swap shifts and get only one day off approved to cover me for a few days off as I still didn't know the ins and outs of the procedure or recovery time.

I called back on the day when the secretary was due back in, it was after 2pm and was told unfortunately that the secretary had finished for the day but they would leave a message for them and asked if they could call me on the following Monday. 3 day before my surgery date as I needed information on what was happening. I also advised them I would he working this day but to leave me a voicemail and I would get back to them asap. No call happened, I chased this up the next day and once again the secretary was not in but one of the other secretaries in the ENT was able to give me general info based on the letter I was provided, they said based on the letter I would be on local anaesthetic and recovery could span from 2-14 days and that full recovery would be approximately a month based on this info my management were able to help and book paid time off and very short notice.

Today the day of my surgery at mid ulster hospital day surgery I have been informed that due to my health conditions that local anaesthetic is not a safe option and that no surgery can be done until a preassessment has been conducted and that the preassessment as well as the surgery will need to be conducted at a different hospital (antrim).

The staff at mid ulster have been extremely kind and helpful and apologised that no date for a surgery should be given without a preassessment being completed first and that unfortunately no surgery would be happening today, and that they would be investigating this matter as it is not the first time it has happened. After 2 years I have been advised I will be notified in the future of another possible date.