He is on holiday back early January, he is foreign so no idea whether he is going back to see family abroad or just at home with his family. Though my friend who is a hospital consultant married to another one said they are never allowed to take more than 2 days leave at Christmas as its peak demand time (Its unprecedented demand time this year I think with covid and winter demand, 100% of beds have been full for a while and reduced staffing levels due to covid / covid isolations) so its possible its something else but they said he is on holiday. Its not at my hospital either, its at another nearby one, though I think a linked smaller one. They said its a better place to have an operation as at the main hospital you have to turn up at 7am whereas this one do slots so I turn up at 11am though does say bring a book.
Its lucky I ordered everything I thought I might need in advance apart from never got hold of the IKEA chair. DH says its available in Germany. He also bought the cover for it off ebay, which was a nice thought but it comes with a cover so I am not sure how he thought a cover would help. But its sweet of him to try.