"Hernia operation - communication at Trafford could have been better"

I had a hernia operation in Trafford General last July.

I was away when you sent letters to arrange my first appointment and, therefore, did not respond. You sent papers back to my doctor so I had to get him to write again to start the process . This seemed an unnecessary waste of his time and mine.

The liaison between the consultant's secretary and appointments staff was not good, so there was confusion about my appointments. Because of this, I think, I was contacted by the private hospital doing some of these operations at the same time that an appointment was being arranged at Trafford General. I only found out about one appointment when I phoned (luckily, just before it was due).

I was prepared for the operation and then sent home because a previous one had overrun. I recognise that this can happen, but there was not good contact between the operating theatre and the nurses where I was waiting. If this had been better I might have been informed earlier that this was happening.

The actual care and operation were fine (though I am still getting some pain, which I gather is normal, but had not been told about).