"Failure of pre-operative assessment"

Prior to a total knee replacement I attended a pre-op assessment giving a full list of all medications I was taking.3 days after my surgery I was anaemic and had a number of large blisters over my operated leg.

The consultant asked if I 'd felt dizzy and I had been very dizzy.They then said I needed a 2 pint blood transfusion as I 'd bled into the leg soft tissue continuously since the surgery causing swelling and blistering.

I was then asked why I didn't stop taking soluble aspirin for the operation.

I pointed out that no-one had informed me to do so at any point during the pre-op or before surgery.

I ended up with a long delay to recovery as the blistering and extra bandaging impeded my mobility.I was discharged after 10 days still with a massive blister under my calf.

Luckily Barts Health at Home visited me the next day at home to redress the leg.3 hours later the blister burst and they had to call again to clean and redress it.They gave me excellent care and without them I 'd have had a possibly infected blister to deal with.

At no point did anyone apologise for not telling me to stop taking a medication that caused these consequences.

As this followed a 4 month delay to my operation due to ' wrong paperwork' and increased pain from my osteoarthritic knee in that time I can say that all but Barts Health at Home failed miserably in my care and I dread having any further surgery at Whipps Cross.