"Cancelled ankle operation at St Helens Hospital"

After a pre-op in May, in June I was admitted to St Helens Hospital to have an ankle fusion. I was admitted to day-ward, assigned a bed, given a gown and an anti-coagulant injection and saw the surgeon. Then I saw the anaesthetist who said to me that they might not be able to do the operation because of my heart condition and that St Helens hospital had no back-up if anything was to go wrong. After he talked to the surgeon they cancelled the operation. The nurses and clinicians were very professional at this time and I do thank them for their care. This error must be down to an administrative oversight.

I had my operation about two weeks after this incident at Whiston. Everything went well - the doctors, anaesthetist, nurses, catering staff and physiotherapist were all excellent. But the food was diabolical except the sandwiches, which were OK.