To place a PALs complaint toward hospital.

[Pcosfighter67]

Hi all,
A little bit about me, I have pcos and have been trying for 4 years for my first child, been under a fertility and clomid is unsuccessful.
Last October they said I needed an operation on my ovaries (day surgery ovarian drilling) and that I would have before Christmas. Every month they have pushed it along, I was othered a last minute date last month for it to be taken away just 24 hours later. Now I'm being told that the operation will be next year.
Im heartbroken, because of the huge set back im yet again another 12months before we even have a chance of conceiving and we've had to put or 2023 wedding on hold for a year due to the set back too.
AIBU to put in a PALs complaint? The toll its taking on me constantly being let down when I was told to would be before Christmas last year is soul destroying. I feel like I'm not very pushy on the phone and because I don't "fight back" I'm an easy one to palm off.

The impact of Covid is pushing everything back. I have a BRCA2 faulty gene which means I am very high risk for breast cancer (80%) and I am not getting any of my yearly checks (mammogram, MRI etc) due to Covid. It absolutely sucks but it is what it is sadly.

Your right to complain but, as far as I know, PALs doesn't have anything to do with wait times and won't be able to do anything about it. Besides, there will be a backlog due to covid which is considered justified.
People wait years for their ops and you've been waiting less than a year so far.
Have you looked at how much it will cost you privately?

Hi there,

I understand your frustration and your hurt of not being able to conceive..... however the global pandemic has played a part in this... the wait lists for cancer surgeries, life saving surgeries etc are at an all time high and they are cancelling almost everything else- they just can't fit more in currently.

You can launch a pals complaint, as like many others but your response will be the same that they just can't factor you in.

I promise you, they are not cancelling on you to dampen your dreams. My best friend works on the cardiology waitlist and it's horrendous.

X

You'd be wasting your time in afraid.

This is really not a matter for PALS, and there's nothing they could do to speed up your procedure.

You're not being 'palmed off' while more assertive people jump the queue. Honestly.

I’m so sorry you’re still struggling-it must be awful. However, many hospitals are in trouble again with staff being redeployed to cover COVID issues. By all means complain but I’m not sure that it will achieve what you want it to; as an old boss of mine used to say-you can’t get more than a pint out of a pint pot! You could make a bother of yourself by phoning every few weeks as that always seems to put you to the forefront of people’s minds?
I hope you manage to get something sorted soon

Our only hospital in the county has cancelled all none live saving operations. I, like many others are having to wait even longer than normal for other ops. It's rubbish and I feel for you but in a global pandemic I expect they are doing their best

You've nothing to lose. My mum got a cancellation slot for her op (different op and circumstances I know) but it's worth a go.

Can you ask if they have a cancellation list if you can be added to that.

It’s horrible but the catch up the NHS needs to do together with the restrictions they still face then things are going to be delayed sadly.

I would.
I did last year, they were sympathetic they gathered the information from the Doctor who admitted DM to a covid ward because she had a cough.
She had cpod she always had a cough.
It is worth a try.
It must be very frustrating, write to the relevant department too.

The statistics show that the average covid patient is in hospital for 2 weeks and uses the services for 2 patients in 2 beds due to staffing and infection control, stopping 6 to 8 surgeries.

I need surgery but haven't been put on the list and this will be postponed I expect. I know it's disappointing and you're upset about it but it's not PALS fault.

I've been waiting over two years for major surgery, I'd breached the hospital protocol even before covid.
I've chosen not to complain (although I have used pals before) because at present it's not going to do anything instead I've taken regularly (was 3 monthly, now monthly) to ringing up. I'm now on there board of long waiters who will take a cancellation, they are currently saying I'll be seen before Christmas (hopefully) but I'm taking that with a pinch of salt. Unfortunately the system was broken pre covid, it's now hanging on by a thread, there's not much we can do but wait - and no I can't go privately because a) Im disabled and cant work because of previous surgery so no money and no way of earning extra and b) the surgery is complex needing several specialists and aftercare which would be difficult to get.
I'd sit tight, concentrate on other areas of your life as much as possible (I've been through infertility it's hard) and consistently contact the waiting list coordinator. I also would be reluctant to cancel a wedding because of this the chance of your dates clashing are low and once offered you can always move it on a week. Take care

I'm sorry but most countries you can pay 10, 30 even 100k just for an operation so we are lucky really.

I get its frustrating but I'm guessing your operation doesn't come high up on there list of emergencies. They are busy and the NHS is suffering, there's people unable to get help for cancer etc because of covid and busyness so I think in your instance you should be a little greatful

My MiL has been in a wheelchair for 18 months now waiting for the hip replacement she was scheduled to have in April 2020 (she'd already been waiting 9 months at that point). Weve now been told it will happen in the next 6 weeks but hospitals are filling up so there's a good chance it wont happen til spring.

It's horrible but probably unavoidable at this point. And I dont think complaining to the hospital will get you anywhere. To your mp maybe?

I understand your frustration but I don't think complaining to PALS will solve it, wait times are huge for pretty much everything and there's not much anyone can do about it. Covid is still putting pressure on services and the backlog that has built up over the last year and a half isn't going anywhere.

Why postpone your wedding? Go ahead with it and have something to look forward to!

@Kuachui grateful? For not having access to treatment? Patient maybe, but grateful?

My local hospital is just doing urgent operations still. My sister waiting for an operation to help her see. Pals doesn't deal with waiting times.

I'm sorry that your treatment and plans have been delayed and left you feeling that your life is on hold but that has been the case for thousands of people, including many who are awaiting life saving treatment - a friend of mine had his stem cell treatment for cancer delayed by 2 months and then when he was given an admission date there was no bed so it was delayed a further 2 1/2 weeks. The NHS was in a mess pre covid and is even worse now. If it makes you feel better then by all means write to PALS but don't get your hopes up that they can do anything as everyone is in the same boat.

I would complain to Pals, you have been waiting nearly a year. To me it makes no sense for them to arrange arrange dates and then keep cancelled last minute. They need to take a more realistic approach to their waiting list. Bad news is fertility type things are normally the poor relation and given the leftover scraps. That’s even before covid. Probably not what you want to hear but are you able to pay to go privately?

I'm sorry but most countries you can pay 10, 30 even 100k just for an operation so we are lucky really.

This tired old tripe again.

We are paying for out health service and they are not providing a service for us. How are we lucky for not getting what we need, one being asked to foot the bill?

The number of people needing surgeries is huge and sadly covid has made this even more difficult. Half the issue is that it all depends on whether the hospital has a physical bed for you to go to after the operation. This is increasingly becoming more than difficult. I work in A&E and more often than not we have anywhere between 10-30 patients who all require admission and they are still in A&E because there's no where to go. So it isn't just down to having the the operating theatre ready its also whether you will be safe afterwards. No bed...often leads to surgery cancellation. It's so frustrating because it's nothing to do with the NHS not giving a damn, it's where we place the patient. Is it suitable for their needs following the op, is it staffed with the specialist nurses some might need? We are running out of.physical space and no one seems to acknowledge that at all.

@ChardonnaysPetDragon exactly, we’ve paid in and it’s not free! The whole be grateful / you’re lucky is very cringey

I think you would be unreasonable to complain. Covid has had a huge impact. Cancers are even being missed.

I’m an anaesthetist and we are desperately trying to get as many patients through our elective pathways as possible because we know how long people have been waiting. So much had to be cancelled and postponed during each wave.

The backlog is huge, staffing is incredibly difficult with people being poorly, and we have to run two different pathways completely separately to care for elective patients and urgent and emergency patients to reduce the risk as much as possible of anyone contracting COVID whilst they are in. We know that having COVID and having surgery really increases the risk of complications and even the mortality (even if you aren’t that poorly with covid) so we have to run two entirely separate pathways.

It has been the most challenging 18 months of my career and I am so glad we are able to do elective operating again but everyone is exhausted. People keep talking about extra waiting lists to be run in the evening or at the weekend but when staff are exhausted no one wants to do any extra hours over their usual ones because they physically can’t.

We want to get people treated and we see the impact when people have to wait longer and longer. We have an exceptionally challenging winter ahead having had pretty much no respite since the pandemic started.

I'm sorry but most countries you can pay 10, 30 even 100k just for an operation so we are lucky really.

I get its frustrating but I'm guessing your operation doesn't come high up on there list of emergencies. They are busy and the NHS is suffering, there's people unable to get help for cancer etc because of covid and busyness so I think in your instance you should be a little greatful

This is precisely why wait times and standards of service in the NHS remain shit. The attitude of cap-doffing, “oh, best not bother them”, “they’re doing their best”, “it’s not so bad, I can wait”, “others have it worse” etc, praying to the great god NHS, while thousands of people up and down the country live in avoidable chronic pain and others pay with their lives for delayed cancer etc treatments. Oh, and we’re all paying for this.

YANBU to feel really upset about this but it is knock on effect of Covid. It is not due to amount of Covid patients in hospital in most places but the effect of multiple staff isolations as NHS staff still have to isolate if a household member has Covid or if anyone is awaiting PCR results etc. I have 2 of my team off this week awaiting PCR results for family members. If they come back positive that is 2 staff off for 10 days. It has been and continues to be crippling the NHS workforce. We are closing wards due to lack of staff. All our elective ortho has been cancelled going forward to redeploy those staff to another site.