Surgery cancelled again. WIBU to turn up to the hospital regardless?

[Wndof]

I've been waiting over a year for life saving surgery. I was finally given a date for 31st August then they changed the date twice, switching my appointment with somebody else and then telling me they'd made a mistake with dates. Finally, 14th September (so tomorrow) was confirmed and I've undergone all of the pre operative tests and assessments, made arrangements for the children, XP secured the time off work.. only for them to text me just now and say the surgery has been cancelled due to a bed issue.

I called the admissions coordinator who has been absolutely terrible throughout and told him that I plan on turning up tomorrow morning and won't be leaving.

I read on here thats what somebody's father did in the same situation and he got his operation.

WIBU to give it a go?

Sorry if I seem dramatic, I just cannot endure this utter shit any longer 😭

My child sat with painful fracture for 4 days in a hospital bed as they couldn't get theatre space. The staff are just as frustrated. The surgeon actually asked me to complain as they were good to go

Yes, and it's deliberate. The new hospital in my city has over 100 beds fewer than the old hospital which struggled to cope as it is. It's a city with an increasing population. Such decisions can ONLY be down to not wanting to spend the money on it. Pure and simple. We are definitely heading towards a private healthcare system or some kind of hybrid and these type of actions are just the start of it.

given that you've arranged to be free, and don't seem to mind hanging around, who knows, there maybe someone on the list that doesn't turn up / isn't fit for their operation/dies.... and you do get treated.

Take headphones and a book.

I know how frustrating this is, my dad's surgery was cancelled 3 times and he was literally in danger of dying because of it.

Strange nobody has mentioned the effect Doctors strikes have had on surgery etc being cancelled!

Ignore the idiots. Anyone would be devastated in your shoes.

So many of us with similar experiences, it's so sad that this is what our NHS has become. I keep seeing ads for BUPA and have been very tempted to look into taking out a policy but they wouldn't fund for existing conditions would they?

Do try PALS. Once they were the only way for me to even get an appointment (took 3 months to get one when A&E had said I needed to be seen urgently within a fortnight at furthest). Once PALS got a department to tell my GP my test results which had been waited for for weeks, because said (same) department wouldn't even answer the phone to my GP, even my GP's surgery had run out of options. Turned out the final test results were fine, and they had discharged me off their books weeks before, but didn't tell either me or my GP, and seemed to see no need to until PALS chased them up.

OP I am so so sorry… that’s really shit and frightening for you. You have also had to do a lot planning.

This is the result of decades of underfunding of health.

If you are going to sit anywhere I would suggest the Houses of Parliament!
if you go to the hospital the staff will be lovely .. but if they have no bed to care for you safely then , as hard as it is, you cannot have unsafe surgery. 💐

No, insurance companies don’t normally cover pre-existing conditions.

No, they wouldn't. I'm sorry.

LOL yep that’s it blame the drs for the mismanagement of the NHS 🙄

Drs are leaving in droves- going abroad or just leaving the profession due to pay, conditions and the pressure they’re under. They’re striking for safer care, to prove to the government they are needed and valued and without them the health service can’t continue. They’re striking for fair pay that reflects their skills and knowledge given the pay stagnation they’ve had. They train for 5 years to qualify and do usually 10-15 years as a junior (depending on their speciality field) working 60+ hours a week plus further education exams etc. And start on £29,000 🤷‍♀️

Give it 5 years and it won’t just be lack of beds meaning patients cant have surgery, it will be lack of drs/surgeons due to the lack of investment.

I can very much understand your anger. Bloody annoying, especially as it very urgent as you say.

In one of the strikes a woman was on the BBC, furious because she had waited three and a half years for a procedure, and it was cancelled due to the strikes

No-one said 'for goodness sake, the issue is the three and a half years, not that it's been put back for another month!

I would -it’s not as if you don’t have the day off. Them cancelling it by text is especially pathetic and cowardly. It’s easy when you’re hiding behind a phone or keyboard though.

Hopefully you get more sympathy on here than l got, when l asked for advice about my c-section being cancelled 8 hours after l turned up to the hospital. People on mums net often hate IVF (l mentioned it was an IVF pregnancy) and c-sections!

We wouldn't have the time or the space to deal with you if you turned up on my wards we send someone senior to see you, but probably in the corridor. We can't have extra people just hanging round. And it would ever you a bed that just didn't exist.

Like what?

That’s awful , can understand your frustration but don’t make yourself more ill by sitting in a hospital for hours where I expect nothing will happen. Contact PALS, contact your MP. Point out exactly the detrimental effects on your health due to the delayed surgery.

It's not physical beds that's the issue. Icus have tons of beds they just don't have the nurses to staff them

Your best hope is pestering your mp as they created this mess

If you go to the hospital in person you can nornally go to the PALS office to talk to someone.

@Wndof - so sorry you’ve had the cancellation. When DH was working as a GP he would have his patients contact him when their surgery was postponed or cancelled - often at very short notice.
Unfortunately as an earlier poster has mentioned it’s a huge juggling act with beds (one of the reasons why you see so many patients stuck in A&E). My friend had a nightmare when her twins were born very premature and they had to be transferred to different hospitals miles away as there weren’t enough critical care cots locally. Staff were constantly on the phone trying to find a suitable hospital.

@Wndof I’m sorry there’s been some unhelpful replies. I honestly think you are being beyond measured in your approach and living with this level of uncertainty must be torture. I hope someone makes it happen tomorrow. Keep complaining keep it public.

I'd do it. Claim you didn't get the text and you're ready to go. They might just "see what they can do". Worst case scenario you have a shit day and are no better off but it doesn't sound like you've got a massively fun plan B in your back pocket.

I wouldn't be able to deny receipt of the cancellation text unfortunately I called the admissions coordinator straight away to discuss it and to say that I'm contacting PALS.

I did tell him that I would be there tomorrow and he said I was welcome to "try my luck" but it was beyond his control and he just needed me to confirm I'd received the message.

Regarding the surgeons fighting over ICU beds, how is it decided which surgeons patient gets the bed? Does anybody know?

I know it'll be down to the urgency of the op but as PP mentioned on the precious page, pretty much all neurosurgery is urgent.

I'd still turn up tbh. Be the squeakiest wheel. Then if there's a cancellation who knows?