"Surgery debacle"

On Wednesday 9th August I was admitted to the Day Case Unit for removal of my Gall Bladder and gallstones having waited a year for the operation. I had had a pre-operative assessment two weeks previously during which I told the nurse I was borderline Von Willebrands which is a clotting disorder.I had all the relevant blood tests including clotting levels plus an E.C.G - I also have an cardiac condition called SVT or cardiac ectopics.( also disclosed by me to the nurse ). I also provided a full list of current medication and doses which clearly showed I take Beta-blockers for my heart and blood pressure.

I was sat in the ward, gowned up with all the trimmings like Ted stockings and paper underwear and the theatre personnel came to take me to theatre. It was at that point that everything descended into chaos. Luckily one of the surgeons was with me at the time because it transpires that the pre-assessment should have followed through on my clotting disorder and checked through my notes for the relevant letters and seeing that there were no letters available, they should have investigated further by contacting the Leicester Royal Haematology Dept to confirm the nature of my condition and whether or not it was safe to operate.

It took one surgeon and one Anaesthetist an hour of phone calls to Leicester Royal and one fax later to reveal that you cannot take Beta-blockers 2 weeks prior to surgery and since I last saw a Haematologist in 2008 I needed to be re-assessed.

The upshot of all this is it seems the pre-assessment system does not work properly. Having been in severe pain for 18 months, waited a year for the operation, fasted, mentally prepared myself for surgery, gone through all the anxiety on the day, provided all the information I had to the pre-assessment nurse, I was told that I could no longer have the operation and had to go home.They will not operate until I have seen a Haematologist and Cardiologist to ensure I am safe to be operated on.

What's possibly worse is the fact that the surgeon and Anaethetist lost an hour of theatre time chasing up the information needed and I was told that another patient from the afternoon list would have to be cancelled as a result which only compounded my misery.

IF you are lucky enough to get a date for surgery and a pre-assessment please make sure you or your relative states clearly what medication and what medical conditions they have at every stage to avoid this kind of mess, especially during and after the pre-op assessment as it seems that connections are not being made. We are not the experts, they are and the system needs to be robust. I certainly will not be putting my faith in the service again and if I have to chase everything up myself then so be it.

I would like to thank the Day Case unit staff, the surgeon and Anaethetist for their diligence and support.They were brilliant.

I apologise for the essay but I am in pain again and am extremely angry today.

Rant over