"l felt upset, disappointed and let down"

After almost two months of having my appointment, l turned up at Theatre Admissions Unit, Northwick Park, at 7. 30 am, as stipulated by hospital letter. I was directed to a bed where l changed in to a gown and waited only to be told that the procedure may not go ahead as my CT scan (taken several months ago) had not yet been sent to them.

l was first on the list, so a couple of people went ahead of me in the hope that if by 10. 30 my scan had come through, the operation would take place. Around 10 am JOY! scan received, all good. As l am being told the usual things that could go wrong, before signing of papers, another member of the anaesthetic team turned up, sat on the bed and told me the operation could not take place because a high dependency bed was not available. As l have obstructive sleep apnoea and was to have my sinus operated on, my breathing needs to be monitored. No need to say l felt upset, disappointed and let down. l must emphasise that all three doctors that came to talk to me were extremely apologetic, empathetic, almost embarrassed and nice.

l was told that the matter would be investigated and gave me another appointment for next week.

I think that there is no possible excuse to justify that anyone has to find themselves in this situation. It simply should not happen. My concern is that, obviously, things are going wrong and we must get to see why. Is it lack of communication, coordination, individuals not doing their job properly or are we understaffed and over stretched?

In any case no good. We are talking NHS.

l have to confess, my employer is the NHS!