"My mum's procedure was cancelled"

About 10 years ago my Mother had some severe Angina attacks, and was treated by a Doctor at Hairmyres Hospital. It was successful, and considering the situation a friendly and positive experience. A couple of years ago the situation worsened and she had a heart attack. She was asked to attend again for a blockage, but this time it was unsuccessful. This was followed by various tablets and treatments but again by December 2016 the situation called for more intervention.

A different doctor was unsuccessful in treating the blockage in December 2016, but suggested that there was a more complex treatment that involved approaching the blockage from a different direction through the hip. My Mum was given different medications and was told they would be in contact probably around January. January came and went, so in February my Mum & Dad contacted the doctor's secretary. Eventually an appointment was sent for for the pre assessment. The nurse took the various tests and explained that as the procedure involved a wound at the hip it would have to be an overnight stay as the wound would have to be "plugged" and was more vulnerable than the usual wrist wound. She was then sent the appointment for the procedure eleven days later.

Early on the morning (as nobody had slept) my Mum and Dad set out. They arrived at Hairmyers about 07: 30am. My Mum was there with three men waiting for the procedure, the usual prep with paper gowns and a needle in the arm, the others were taken away, but nothing seemed be happening for my Mum. People were coming and going, but nobody came near my Mum until 09: 45. She was certain she seen her doctor, but the Doctor who approached her was not one she had met before. She thought it was odd that they drew the curtains when they came to speak to her. (Please understand that anyone who can even vaguely read people would know my Mum does not like to make fuss or complain. )

They started to ask her about her angina attacks. She said they had improved. Please note improved means instead of being woken up several times a night every night for significant periods, she now gets woken once every couple of nights. No detail was sought. Instead the doctor started telling my Mum about how "tricky" the operation was, and how much more serious/risky. As my Mum had geared herself up for this operation she was aware of this and had discussed with the nurse on the previous visit and my Dad. When she did not back out of the operation they then told her that they could not do the operation as he did not have either the lines or the correct staff. She then naturally became upset as she had been very tense waiting on this. They said she could contact the hospital in a couple of weeks and they could re-arrange. When she challenged them on why they didn't want to do the operation, and said she was not sure she would trust them to do it now anyway, they walked away.

A nurse then came in and to speak to my Mum while she was getting ready to leave (still very upset and in tears) and the nurse told her to contact them at a later date.

My Mum said she felt it was all lies and they didn't want to do the procedure that day for some reason. The way they kept going on about how "tricky" it was was like they were trying to frighten her. She also felt like the doctor was trying to force her to say she did not want the treatment.

There was no further support or discussion from the medical staff they just left my mother in tears to go downstairs and phone my Dad to come and collect her.

This leaves me with the possible options of:

1. Incompetent planning - nearly two weeks after the nurse discussed the notes and told my Mum about the procedure - so it wasn't a last minute change of plan so why was the equipment not in place, or appropriately trained staff at hand?

2. The person who was set to do the operation was inappropriately qualified/incapable of completing the process on that day. Again I would assume best practice would be to ensure everyone is appropriately qualified at the procedure, if they were not fit I would assume that they would have known at the start of the day and cancelled straight away.

3. For some reason the person wanted to leave earlier than planned that day and wanted to cancel, but wanted my Mum to be the source of the cancellation. I would assume that a patient refusing treatment is far easier on record of the doctor than them saying he needs to finish early that day!?

Draw your own conclusions, I would guess that we will never find out the "Real" reason my Mum did not get the treatment she was promised that day. I just hope that when our own GP asks for the notes/information from the hospital that it does not say anything that intimates my Mum refused treatment as that will be the point where I seek to take action.

This has been such a terrible experience for my Mum under such trying circumstances I felt it should be recorded somewhere from the patient point of view. The bedside manner was terrible, and although I have no proof and probably never will. I feel that this was a flim-flam job that has irrevocably destroyed my Mum's trust in a place that did display integrity and expertise, but now she feels no confidence in them.