"The whole experience has been unbelievably distressing"

I feel so very let down by the service I have received from st James hospital, or rather the lack of!

I was referred to the colorectal department in March 2022, and following several expedited referrals I had to undergo urgent surgery in April 2022 and still didn’t see a colorectal consultant until October 2022.

I did have an appointment booked for August 2022 but this was canceled on the morning of the appointment as I had been booked an appointment for the wrong department.

I then hadn’t seen/spoken to anyone from the colorectal department up until May 2023, following a further 3 urgent surgeries, 2 of which I was discharged from hospital without any wound aftercare or dressings, no written instructions or appointments for a wound clinic.

Following my colorectal appointment in May 2023, I had to return the following day for surgery again. On the morning of this surgery and the previous surgery in March, no one knew why I was at the hospital, as the surgery wasn’t documented in my notes, and I wasn’t booked in to be seen anywhere, even though I was advised to be in the hospital for 7am fasted and ready for my procedure.

There have never been any follow up appointments for results from my MRI or colonoscopy but there have been very many cancellations and rescheduled appointments, and most of the appointments I have had to chase and book. Even my colonoscopy appointment was cancelled and rearranged, so instead of being seen under the two week rule as I should have been, I waited 4 weeks to be seen, to be asked why I was at the appointment because my notes are very wishy washy, and it wasn’t clear as to why I was there.

As I’m sure you can imagine, the whole experience has been unbelievably distressing and is still ongoing. This whole situation has caused so much unnecessary upset and prolonged suffering, and I believe my condition has worsened due to not been seen as quickly as I should have. This has affected me both mentally, physically and socially, and I feel I have been let down massively by the NHS. I’m now at the point where enough is enough and lessons need to be learned from the multiple mistakes throughout my care. 

I last saw my consultant in August 2023 who advised further surgery would be done in October/November 2023 and that I would hopefully be discharged by the end of the year. 35 weeks later, after many phone calls to the admissions department and my consultant’s secretary, I still don’t have a date for surgery or any sort of follow up appointment since last August. 

All I want is a date for surgery and follow up appointments without having to chase them up constantly, and to be able to make plans with my family, without worrying about if I’m going to be in pain! It would also be great if people ever bothered to call me back, like the consultant’s secretary who doesn’t bother to even ask my name.