That my surgeon was switched?

56 replies

AMBE123 · 12/04/2019 08:16

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That my surgeon was switched1
Today 00:21 AMBE123

Ok so I recently had to have colo-rectal surgery. The surgeon (I'll call him Dr A) came to see me when I was admitted and explained what they were doing, then the anaesthetist came and introduced himself etc. Happy so far and they took me down for the op an hour later. I was a bit puzzled that the doctor didn't come round after the surgery to explain what they'd done, how it went etc as I thought from past experience that this was a thing, but the nurse read his notes and told me what they said before they sent me home.
So this was a week ago and I have just read the discharge letter and it says that another Dr (Dr B) did the surgery. AIBU to feel like I was misled and they switched on me? I know it's the NHS and there's no guarantee of a particular doctor, but I do feel a bit that if a Dr is going to be up my bum doing nasty things while I'm unconscious, the least he could do is introduce himself first.

(What makes it worse is that I met the Dr who it now turns out did the surgery at the previous visit; he was rude, abrupt and I just didn't trust him, which is a very very rare reaction for me.)
I feel like I was deceived about who would be doing the surgery. I know what matters is that whoever does it can do a good job, but it just still doesn't sit right with me.
Any medical people here - is this normal practice in the NHS? I lived abroad for a few years so maybe my expectations got skewed.....

OP posts:

Applesbananaspears · 12/04/2019 10:56

I don’t think you are unreasonable at all. I would have expected to be told and I wouldn’t expect to be operated on by one of the team I would expect him to at least be there leading the operation.

Having said that, this is absolutely why we go private. If someone is operating on me I want to choose who that person is and to be guaranteed they will do my operation.

Honeyroar · 12/04/2019 12:36

No I think the issue is actually that they don't communicate with patients properly. It wouldn't be a shock or worrying if they did. Lack of communication has been the main criticism with my husband's care over his 10 weeks in hospital and 3 operations this yr. It was so difficult to find out what was being planned or even had been done.

Langrish · 12/04/2019 20:55

PerryMasonsFriend

I think you’ll find most people having surgery for cancer don’t have the luxury of “waiting” and are just immensely grateful that one of a qualified team is carrying out their life saving surgery.
!
The surgical staff are human, they can’t work 24 hours. Even if they could, there are often emergencies where their particular skills or oversight are crucial and more standard procedures can be quite adequately carried out by someone else on their team.
People’s expectations are completely unrealistic sometimes, lawyers or otherwise.

Helynes · 12/04/2019 21:48

I can't speak for the OP, but I don't think that most of the people agreeing with OP are saying that they only want the consultant to do the operation, just that it would be nice to know before that there may be other members of their team who carry it out.
Maybe saying that would create more problems, in that there may be people who only want the consultant, but I would have been fine with knowing before hand. I was just a bit surprised to find out afterwards, and just to be clear, I wasn't upset by it and was happy with the operation.

PerryMasonsFriend · 15/04/2019 14:46

@Langrish

I said "waiting" as saying that's what you'd do. That's not what happens though. If you insist that you've been told that Mr/Mrs X who is the senior consultant will do your operation, and you insist on amending your form in that way, they will usually sort it out. As I've said, it's a contract - most people don't read it in detail and if they do, are too scared to even try to negotiate.

In a complex case, it is perfectly reasonable to say I've been told that Mr/Mrs X senior consultant will do my operation and I want them to do it. I accept this won't be an option opent to everyone to negotiate - either because the complexity of the surgery is too basic for this to be reasonable or because they don't have the confidence or capacity to negotiate this outcome effectively. As I said, I have legal training so am in a different position.

LINDAHOAD · 09/11/2023 16:18

going to pals will achieve nothng they are part of the nhs - what is the big mystery about asking who does the operation. - i asked about a consultant and was then told that he has an associate operating with him what does that mean
surely one has the right to know when it is your body and future health outcome - and how many surgeries they have performed in this branch of medicine. you never get to the bottom of who actually does the surgery unless you go private and i assume you then have the consultant you pay for.

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