Hospital clinic cancellation

[yolofish]

My DD aged 19 needs an operation - not life-threatening, but complicated. In Sept we got the go ahead; next stage is 1-3 months of prep including 3D modelling etc. Earliest appt we could get to move to next stage was end of Jan - tomorrow in fact. Today I got a text to say the whole clinic was cancelled; next appt is now end of April. Given that she has exams this summer, planning to start uni in Sept, the time frame is not looking good because we could have 3 months prep and then wait to go on surgery list and then be bumped off (been warned this is the case, her team take urgent cases). Surgery will take 3-6 weeks to recover from, meaning that there is a fair likelihood she might be unable to start uni on time....

OK fair enough, the NHS is over-stretched, under-resourced etc. But the reason tomorrow's clinic is cancelled is due to annual leave. I know people need their holidays, but surely they need to co-ordinate them, even surgery teams? how can they cancel an entire clinic, which only takes place once a month anyway?

AIBU to think this is really poor planning?

[ChatEnOeuf]

Far from ideal. Agree, someone's not talking enough there. Can you ask to be squeezed into the Feb/March clinic as an overbook, given the tight timescales?

[SmallGreenBouncyBall]

yanbu at all
have this regularly with dc and it drives me mad.
almost all my annual leave goes on appointments that are either late or cancelled the last minute. and generally totally uncoordinated.
we have never had an appointment on time, 2 hours or more waiting is norma. total disorganisation.

[yolofish]

I've phoned consultants' secretary, got squeezed into March, but double-booked with someone else's appt. quite happy to sit and wait... Feb clinic is 'suspended' apparently. this team dont do private, or else I would pay for a one-off to see if that speeds things up. must be the only NHS surgery team NOT to do private!!