"Catherter Ablation"

I dont want this to be viewed negatively as the procedures are well worth any concerns that i have. I was attending for a EP study and RF catherter ablation as a day patient, so i knew it would be a long day and potential a painful one. This was my first time in hospital for a procedure so it was a little daunting. My initial letter confirming the appointment was so badly printed that i was unable to read most it and it contained part of another persons letter, so this did not inspire confidence in me. I did contact them and they did issue me an email copy which was very helpful.

The cardiologist i had previously seen did not undertake my procedure which was unexpected and i did not realise this until i was in theatre. The procedure it self was more painful than i had expected but only when the catherters were inserted and removed other than that it was fine. The consultant literally ran out of the theatre after removing the catherters and i felt like an incovienience after the op as they wanted to get me out of there ASAP, which is fine to an extent and that my op ran over lunch.

The main issue i have with the procedure is the lack of after care that i have experienced but i must say that the nursing care immediately afterwards was generally good. I did not receive any debriefing from the consultant who performed the procedure and i wasn't able to clean my wounds before leaving the hospital. I was given minimal information in what to do post discharge and had to look up items on line to discover for myself what i should be doing particularly VTE. If you are going to be discharged then ask lots of questions and thourghly read any discharge notes to make sure all your queries or concerns are answered.

I did have to return to A&E a week after the procedure and have had a very poor experience of this and the cardiology department, if you do visit A&E make sure you keep mentioning to them that you have a heart condition. I did intially contact the cardiac team on some issues i was having and was told to go to A&E by the cardiac nurses, this turned out to be incorrect. The after care i have experienced is very poor and i should have been told a lot more before i was discharged to ally my fears and health concerns. No appointment had been made for me to follow up on the procedure or tell me what had been discovered in the EP study.

I have seen a number of different consultants on each visit pre procedure and i do not feel that i have received continuity of care as i have had to brief them on my condition each time. As such i have lost confidence in my treatment as i feel they have treated my condition but not the treated me as a patient, there is a difference.

The theatre is state of the art and the staff are professional and if you are going to have this treatment then you should as it is worth it and fairly amazing what they can do with the catherters.