"Day Surgery Experience"

My husband, having had a traumatic break to his jaw during dental surgery in September 2018 has had to have further surgery to extract the offending tooth and another wisdom tooth. He was, understandably, anxious about the procedure as the last fairly simple procedure had ended up with 3 days in hospital, emergency surgery and a steel plate inserted into his jaw.

I brought my husband to the ward, as requested by the nurse who rang me the week before. I found that the day surgery waiting room is extremely unfriendly in the way in which notices are displayed around the rooms. There were, by my reckoning, at least 4 notices telling relatives of the patients that they are not to ask the receptionist for updates on their loved ones due to the ‘business’ of the ward. The notices were unfriendly in their format and messaging. I absolutely understand that the receptionist is probably not the person to ask but there are ways to give across a message. There was also a large sign on the TV with underscoring and exclamation marks telling people not to touch it and labels on the rather dog eared and old magazines not to take them away. The overall impression is one of being unwelcome and certainly heightened my anxiety.   I felt that the environment should have been reviewed from a patient perspective and made more welcoming.

Secondly, when my husband’s name was called I, naturally, went with him but was stopped rather abruptly at the door by a nurse who informed me that only patients were allowed in the day surgery ward. I obviously did not wish to distress my husband any further so did not challenge this, but had to ask how I was to know when my husband would be back from surgery for me to collect him. To this, the nurse asked my husband if he had my number – which he did and said that he would contact me. Before I was even able to say goodbye to my husband and wish him well he was whisked away.

I then did not know if I should stay or go – I had no idea where he was on the list, was afraid to ask the receptionist and determine that I would just await a call. However, there was no phone reception in the ward and I was struggling to pick up the wi-fi on my phone. Also, I discovered that there was no phone reception in the coffee shop or indeed anywhere except right next to the front door. After about 2 hours of no contact I went to PALS who was able to phone the ward, find out where my husband was in the list and when he was likely to come out. They were also able to let me have the phone number of the ward.

I eventually was able to make contact with my husband, but not until he had been messaging all of my children because he couldn’t connect with me which upset him and he told me that he was still waiting (3.30 pm) in the ward, with an empty chair beside the bed and I couldn’t help but wonder why it was not possible for me to simply keep him company during that very anxious 3 hour wait?

I felt that the system for day surgery could be reviewed with an eye on patient centred care. I understand that a simple routine such as having wisdom teeth being extracted is not viewed as very complex or worrying, but in my husband’s case having been hospitalised with a broken jaw and then having to have a plate put in with over 2 weeks recovery time, he was extremely anxious, as was I. Not all procedures are the same and not all patient experiences are the same.

None of what I am asking for will involve any extra manpower or resources – just a simple review of what is happening at the moment and some minor changes to environment and systems.