Surgery cancelled whilst in the waiting room.

[Skinnyplaits]

Has this happened to anyone else? I was up at 5am this morning to get there. Childcare arranged and DH and family prepped. Meals sorted, club lifts arranged, work arranged and everything. I was sitting in the surgery admissions area at 7:15 and I got a call saying my surgery was cancelled. The surgeon has pulled his back. I have waited so long and I'm devastated.

Its taken me until now to get home and I'm back at my desk working with a very grumpy employer.

You are being ridiculous, not to mention entitled. Do you really think that this only happens in the UK?

I was in my gown and sexy compression stockings and had the blood thinning injection and then they came and told me the anaesthetist had rung in sick. Went home and had the op the following day.

So you think the NHS can afford to pay staff to sit around twiddling their thumbs not seeing patients, in case another member of staff rings in sick? Because if they were seeing patients, then those patients would need cancelling, in order to see these patients. Maybe you should go to the thread where the entirety of mumsnet told a copywriter it was more important for her to go to work than her GP husband with a fully booked clinic, when there was a childcare crisis?

There has been absolutely no word from them today. I assume it'll be Monday before anyone surfaces.

Nobody wants to cancel surgery. There are so many factors that it's amazing more surgeries aren't cancelled. Safe staffing levels, logistics, etc. Everything works on predictions. If patients don't recover as expected, a bed isn't cleared. If emergencies come in, beds/theatre slots are taken. If staff are off sick in Sterile Services, then equipment kits aren't turned around as quickly as needed. That's before you get to simple surgeries that become complicated, patients who are unwell in recovery and need anaesthetic or surgical review, etc.

Why should senior management be personally financially penalised for other people being more ill than you?

You can tell the posters who don't work, and don't have children still at home.

'Oh well, shit happens...' 🙄

Anyone who has to juggle childcare and who is having to take time off work and/or lose money, is NOT saying 'shit happens!'

I was cancelled when I was on the ward prepped and ready to go in. I was meant to be in the morning, so had been there since 7am. At 5:30pm I was cancelled. Mine was cancer surgery, so you might think somewhat urgent.

You must have missed my post on page 1…

Sympathies. This is my fear about my upcoming surgery and why l have declined a date where my husband would need to take 12 hours annual leave which there is a good chance my hospital will waste. Last surgery they cancelled on the day last time. Spoiler: doing nil by mouth for extended periods of time heavily pregnant with twins is very hard. Hospital swore blind l would be 1st on the following day and guess what l wasn’t 🙄. I will be keeping them on a short leash this time, they’ve been fucking me about for the best part of a year. I already have a complaint open and won’t be doing 15 or 16 hours nil by mouth because they can’t organise themselves properly

It’s not off when the double standard is so big. They can’t organise themselves mess people about left, right and Centre but the patient is expected to be very gracious about it all despite the impact on them. One miss step by a patient, they get discharged and have to start the convoluted process all over again

Absolutely agree

I caused somebody’s op to be cancelled once. I felt awful for then but I was told they would be rebooked very soon. I was in for an operation that had complications and I was in surgery for ages. The surgeon had no time to do the nests operation. I dare say it happens from time to time. But I felt really bad for them… it wasn’t my fault but…

Omg which Private group was this?

What would you suggest - reducing attempts at resuscitation because the previous patient's taking too long? Turning away somebody who is haemorrhaging because it'll take too long to clean up afterwards and you're sitting waiting for your non urgent tonsillectomy? Refusing all complex surgeries because it's cheaper to let them die/make them wait for another hospital than pay ten people in the waiting room?

It's ridiculous.

Keep them on a short leash? The staff are not animals!

So what happens to patients who simplify cannot afford to come back after a cancelled surgery? What if you afford the travel, possible hotel stays, lost pay or the childcare costs? Do they just never get the surgery or have to wait until they have saved up enough to be able to afford to try again?

It happens. Sometimes it because a simple op has got complicated and they overran the time (one example I saw was someone needed a metal pin removed from their leg... it took hours and the pin was stubborn. Other staff called in, and pretty much every bit of kit used to get it out).
Another time was one of the surgeon on the list for that day had a funny turn and got sent home. The rest of his list cancelled.

I hope you get a new date soon.

You experienced an inconvenience today and you are understandably miffed.
Please spare a thought for transplant patients who often have to be disappointed when the organ isn't the best match or not in a decent enough condition and they are desperately ill.
These patients often have to travel outside of their NHS area, hundreds of miles, to find they have to go home again.

I hope you are rescheduled soon 🤞

Happens a lot more than you might think. My husband was due open heart surgery, we were all geared up for it, gowned him up, razor out to shave his chest and the registrar walked in and said we are so sorry, an emergency has come in so we need to reschedule, my husband has never moved so quick out of a chair, up and dressed in record time! He was back four weeks later, and all went well..

I've had it two different ways. I've been the patient who bumped someone else's surgery and I've had a toddler wait all day for day surgery that got cancelled. 6am-8pm nil by mouth for a 2 year old, it was a stressful evening where it disrupted recovering patients too. She couldn't even nap in the end as she was too hungry and dehydrated. But it was because a car accident had happened so understandable why.
Then me, recovering on a ward the next morning having had emergency surgery in the middle of the night, hearing the patient next to me slagging me off to someone on the phone because her surgery got cancelled because I came in as an emergency.

I was literally in a hospital bed in the pre-op waiting for emergency surgery but was wheeled back to the ward for another 5 hour wait until a team was available. These things happen unfortunately and the stress the nhs staff are under is incredible, sorry but sometimes you just have to suck it up.

Ah that’s so shit I’m sorry.
My c-section was cancelled on the day. Nil by mouth from midnight, up at 5:00, hospital (which was an hour away!) for 7, elder DC being looked after by MIL who took annual leave, DH off work of course, did all the prep, sat in a gown (starving hungry mind you 😂) until just after 2pm… ‘sorry we can’t deliver your baby today, we’re understaffed’. Home again to explain to confused DC why there was no baby, and to sort more days off all round!
Did it all again the next day but phew, they squeezed me in mid afternoon 😅

So sorry that happened and hope you get another date through soon. I had it happen with cancer breast reconstruction after a 3 year wait on the day all ready then anesthesist said I had a condition I don't have and cancelled it, it was something declared for 3 years and they misread it but wouldn't believe me and couldn't get hold of relevant medic. Third time it went ahead after relevant medic confirmed what I told them. It took a whole operating theatre and staff out for a full day. Seemed crazy they do checks the night before when medics needed aren't working if there's an issue.

Oftentimes the surgeons don’t prioritise the list, that’s our job as a med sec. Occasionally one of my consultants will change the order depending on type of anaesthesia used.

But diabetics always go first, as do latex allergies. Sometimes a patient will have other reasons to be put first (inmates, neurodivergent etc etc)

(I work in an elective setting)