"My fathers operation"

My 91 year old father was scheduled for surgery today for a groin hernia which we were told was fairly urgent as his hernia repeatedly comes out and causes severe pain and could possibly rupture. He has numerous  health conditions including Type 2 diabetes and has a heart condition which requires the use of apixaban to thin his blood which he was advised to stop taking 3 days prior to his surgery.

We arrived at Wishaw at mid-morning  and at 12.00 my father was prepared  for theatre. In the afternoon the surgeon came to see him in his room and marked out the area where he was going to operate, but at 16.45 the surgeon  informed us that due to an emergency his procedure would not be going ahead. He stated the procedure would take approximately 30 minutes and he was prepared to operate but there was no theatre staff available to assist due to the emergency.

My father had not eaten since his dinner the previous evening  as per instruction and as the day went on, as he still was not allowed to eat or drink his blood sugars began  to drop. He was sent home after watiing anxiously for 6 hours. He was not advised if he should start taking the apixiban again. I had also taken time off work to be with him and my sister had flown from Wales to stay with him during his recovery.

We now do not know when this surgery will go ahead and my sister will not be able to return as she has other commitments.

We understand that emergencies happen and cannot be forseen however why leave a frail 91 year old with medical conditions to last on the list for theatre.

I asked if my father could be operated on tomorrow or indeed when. Unfortunately this information is not forthcoming.

The nursing staff who dealt with my dad in day surgery were very helpful and professional but the system and management for operations is clearly unacceptable.