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Care Opinion

Cancelled Operation

Posted By hellybobs

"Cancelled Operation"

About: Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / General surgery

(as the patient),

After my c section 15 months ago, it failed to heal and took 3 months for the wound to completely close, I developed a hernia, my GP failed to diagnose it and it was only diagnosed by another Dr, and he begrudgingly referred me to a consultant. I am in a significant amount of pain, it's a constant struggle and I can't even pick my little boy up, without being in severe pain.

Consultant said operation needed doing urgently, given a date for operation which was cancelled on the day after being in hospital for over 4 hours, given another date which has now been cancelled, have been told I am top of the list and it needs doing urgently, but they can't give me any indication of a date.

So disappointed, fed up with the pain, just worried how long I will be left like this.

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Responses

Response from Peter Brain, Volunteer, Healthwatch Devon 9 years ago
Peter Brain
Volunteer,
Healthwatch Devon

Submitted on 16/03/2015 at 12:39
Published on Care Opinion at 13:42

Dear 'hellybobs'

The comments and responses on the web-site of Patient Opinion are shared with us at Healthwatch.

This experience you describe was clearly unsatisfactory. It is little comfort to know that there is such pressure on hospitals, but it does lead to postponements. We hope you will soon receive a firm date and the treatment you need.

More generally we are building a picture of the provision of services in Devon and these comments will help the NHS and other providers develop and improve their services.

If you wish to discuss any health or social care issues with us in confidence, including seeking advice or information about services, please call 0800 520 0640, or email info@healthwatchdevon.co.uk or go on-line to www.healthwatchdevon.co.uk.

We look forward to hearing from you

Yours sincerely

Peter Brain

Volunteer

Healthwatch Devon is the consumer champion for Health and Social Care in Devon.

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Response from Brenda Leaman, Patient Experience Lead, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 9 years ago
Brenda Leaman
Patient Experience Lead,
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 16/03/2015 at 13:55
Published on Care Opinion at 16:30

Dear hellybobs

We are extremely sorry to hear of your situation and whilst we never like to cancel any planned surgery we have had to make some difficult choices and unfortunately this has meant cancelling surgery due to unprecedented numbers of emergency patients requiring to be admitted. We would welcome the opportunity to consider and discuss with you your particular case. Please contact our PALs Department on 01392 402093 if you wish to discuss this further.

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Update posted by hellybobs (the patient)

Unfortunately have had another date cancelled and been told they have no idea if/when my operation will go ahead as no operations for my consultant can be booked at the moment. So just waiting indefinitely right now

Response from Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) 8 years ago
Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford)

Submitted on 26/05/2015 at 09:30
Published on nhs.uk on 27/05/2015 at 01:01

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. Unfortunately due to recent bed and capacity pressures, it has been necessary to cancel some patients’ surgeries. Whilst this is never ideal and the frustrations of those patients is entirely understood, it is crucial in these circumstances for clinicians to prioritise their patients according to clinical urgency. It is very difficult to comment on the reasons for specific cancellations in the absence of patient detail, but we would advise that the hospital is in the process of recovering from those bed pressures. In the meantime, should you have any concerns regarding your clinical condition, we would urge you to make contact with the appropriate Health Services.

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