"Hysteroscopy: Outpatient and Theatre"

In October I was booked at Royal London for an outpatient hysteroscopy. The consultant who had examined me prior to that, suggested this was necessary to remove a polyp; he explained that this was a very easy procedure which many women undergo and that I was going to be awake. When I asked if this was going to be painful, he simply laughed saying there was nothing to worry about and that I was going to be fine as long as I took some ibuprofen before getting to the hospital.  

At no point during that visit he mentioned that this procedure could be so painful or uncomfortable that I might have to be re booked in theatre. I understand that this may represent a small percentage, however it is still a possibility. 

On the day of the procedure it was pretty clear from the start that he would have not been able to complete the procedure as I was in too much discomfort. He was very nice and attentive, kept checking I was ok and he is the one who suggested we book this again in theatre as it was getting too much Why this possibility was never mention at any point before? I can't argue with hospital policy of don't provide any local anaesthetics or pain killer on site, however knowing what my my pain level is, I could have taken something stronger or ask my GP to be prescribed something to relax.

Before I left on that day, I was told that the procedure had been booked again and that I would have been was  asleep - now this might have been my fault for not asking further clarification, but considering I was in so much discomfort and considering that this procedure is not extremely long, I did assume that I would have been given a sedation just to get me through. I was then called from the pre assessment team and only found out on that that that the procedure was actually been booked under general anaesthesia, which I had to intention of getting for something so easy. Yes I am young and fairly healthy, however I didn't see why I had to incur the risk of GA side effects when surely other options must be available. I am not a nurse or a doctor but at the time it did seem so extreme that my only two options were Boots pain killer or GA. 

Nurse from pre assessment told me that unfortunately I wasn't allowed to talk to an anaesthetist prior to the day (?? No idea why!) and if I had any concern I should have contacted my consultant directly. So I did. I was then told I couldn't talk to then directly but I had to deal with their secretary. This person turned out to be the most unhelpful person I ever came across in a hospital (and I do work in Healthcare Recruitment so I deal with hospital staff on a daily basis); They told me they didn't see what the problem was and yes GA was my only option, also questioned why I didn't raise these concern before and briefly cut me off saying they would have passed on the message to the consultant however they were not particularly confident I would have got an answer before the day of my procedure. 

I then decided to contact PALS and it took them nearly 4 week to get this consultant on the phone; they consultant didn't even apologised for what was clearly a misunderstanding about the procedure in theatre and I was told that if I didn't want GA, I could have had spinal instead. I also enquired but I couldn't simply get a strong painkiller to make me more comfortable and was told they didn't believe I couldn't tolerate it.

I had my procedure done again in Theatre. The anaesthetist (Dr Mehta) was probably the nicest person I came across at Royal London; he listened to my concerns about GA, told me the downside on spinal and then we agreed on a simply sedation which in his opinion would have been more than sufficient considering the short time I would have spent in theatre. I really appreciated that he went through all different options I had and made feel I was actually making an informed decision on what was going to happen. Every one on the day before and after my procedure was really nice and caring and I was  home in no time.

Although everything during the procedure was absolutely perfect, I can't stop thinking that all the amount of doctors, nurses, HCA and any other medical staff involved for me on the day (which is considerably higher and more expensive for the hospital) plus the cost and time the actual theatre room was booked for me could have been better allocated for another patient if I had been given the correct information from the start