I had follow up plastic surgery for breast reconstruction after cancer.
I can't fault the care that I was given but there does not seem to be enough beds or wards for surgery recovery which is surprising given its a new hospital.
I was phoned the day before my op to say it might be cancelled for a third time, due to a shortage of beds because the previous hot sunny weekend had led to lots of people being admitted with burns from barbecue accidents.
They told me to come in on the day of the op anyway, which I did.
My op was the first on the day's schedule but was late starting because they could not find a bed for me, which made the surgeon and anaesthetist angry because it meant all their other operations that day would be late, and they wanted me to go to a plastic surgery ward.
The op went ahead and I came round in recovery at about 1pm.
They still hadn't found a bed so I had to wait there until about 8pm.
During this time I turned down several offers of food and drink because I was under the impression I was about to be moved to a ward at any minute and it would have been inconvenient for the porters if I was taking food and drink with me.
I was eventually transferred to Interventional Radiology.
This ward was not designed for people staying 1 or more nights recovering from surgery - it is one of the old fashioned open plan mixed sex wards with rows of beds and communal toilets so it was noisy.
There were several other patients who had been brought there for recovery after various types of surgery because no other beds were available.
While I can't fault the care I was given on this ward, they seemed to be short of stocks of basic things like dressings.
"Not enough beds or ward facilities for surgery..."
About: Southmead Hospital Southmead Hospital Bristol BS10 5NB
Posted via nhs.uk
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