what happens when an operation is cancelled - twice

[southeastastra]

dads op has been cancelled twice. this time he has been at the hospital all day and they just cancelled it.

i can't find him, he just left.

depends why it was cancelled
if it was due to his health then this is reasonable- if it was for some other reason, then this is unacceptable and I would contact either the Theatre manager of the hospital or the PALs service

was cancelled due to other more important ops i imagine. my poor dad he is 78 and hasn't eaten since yesterday. he's been at the hospital all day and they wouln't let anyone stay with him. i'm so mad i could cry

they have to do it the 3rd time! they really can't cancel again

is it elective surgery ?

your poor dad

SEA your poor dad. This just shouldnt happen. Once is bad enough and I think if it has happened once then the patient
should automatically be first on the operating list next time so that it cannot happen twice. I hope you can get in contact with your dad soon. Do you think he has possibly gone for something to eat?

i hope he has gone to get some food, it's not a local hospital though he'll have to get a tube and bus - we can't understand why he didn't call us, we've been waiting to pick him up. was for a hernia op

If he is listed for elective surgery he SHOULD not be dropped off for other more urgent cases, thats what they have trauma theatre lists for.
Its more likely to be lack of staff or equipment or even lack of time if the list over ran.
Insist on him being first on the list next time.
I really would kick off about this and find out the exact reason for the cancellation- it has to be noted for audit purposes

thanks lily, we are all worn out by it, i shall contact the manager as you suggested earlier. is it best to write or call?

he has just turned up. i think he feels guilty being picked up when he's had nothing done. we have been frantic with worry.

he says that he's priority now for the op, although they said that when they cancelled the last one.

I'm pretty sure they can't do it again. DD's op was cancelled twice last year, the second time it was very short notice and when I got very upset being told the news they said it is policy not to cancel anyone more than twice. Whether that is NHS policy though or our hospital policy I don't know. Sorry to hear its happened to your Dad too, its horrible as you mentaly prepare for it and just want it over with.

If it where me I would request a visit with the consultant surgeon to discuss the exact reasons why and how it will be prevented in the future.
I would also speak to either the theatre manager or the ward manager.
Its totally unacceptable honestly I work in theatres and you would be amazed at why pats are cancelled. some more common reasons are trays or equipment not arriving or not even ordered

I would call the manager- maybe change where he gets the operation done- which hospital is this?

royal free, the consultant said it was the only place he did the ops though we are nearer barnet/edgware.

there were two of them waiting from 7am this morning, both were cancelled.

terrible
please follow this through.
No advice regarding hospital as I work in North East
Hope your dad gets the op soon x

thanks lily for being so helpful, we will complain he has been waiting since feb for op too, hospitals are ridiculously busy round here.

new guidelines from government for any patient is "from the patient presetning to the GP untill the operation is 18 weeks"
or else the hospital will be failing.
I would suggest you quote this when you complain.
Can you afford private? that is another option ot he can opt to have his op at another hostpial under the choose and book system but that may add more delays.
Anyhow whatever you decide, hope everything goes ok. x

18 weeks is a joke, i've been waiting for an op for months too.

i did have a quick google for private prices but they don't seem to want to put them on the websites.

honestly the PCT has to treat you within 18 weeks or else the hospital will get fined and lose money from PCT

this link may help you kick some arse

when they say 18 weeks from referral to treatment do they mean first hospital appointment or operation?

the link looks helpful will have a good read

Operation I think
link will provide more info

it's really not fair to let a 79 year old man starve and sit around all day, thanks for your help will let you know what happens!

I've just had my elective surgery cancelled for the 2nd. This time after 5 hours without a drink, I was outside the theatre, hooked up to monitoring equipment waiting for epidural to be administered, only to be told that they had to cancel due to no beds. Surely they would have known that ages before I was taken to the operating theatre.

This happened to my 73 year old dad, his op was cancelled twice. He had been waiting around all day at the hospital sat in a hard chair with no food and sips of water. it broke my heart.
I rang the operations manager (or her PA) and she got dad in the next day
( I do work at the hospital so not sure if that made a difference?, not that it should tho!!)
I really feel for you and I hope your dad gets his op very soon x

I’m surprised they said no one could wait with him - that sounds to me more like he said that to you as he didn’t want you sitting round worrying/making a fuss of him

Do all the things that other people have said but ultimately I’d just be grateful you/he aren’t one of the emergency cases that have needed to go in before him. It’s GOOD he’s bottom of the list - means they don’t think it’s critical for him.

Operations are cancelled for a variety of reasons. The most common is a shortage of beds to admit to post operatively. If there are no free beds you can’t take a patient to theatre. Most of the list will have been cancelled.
Referral to treatment times are a bit more complex than 18 weeks from GP to operation. There is a CQUIN (payment target) around patients being cancelled being offered surgery within 28 days. Ring the consultants secretary and ask what the plan is.
Operations can and do get cancelled more than twice as hospitals run at 101/102% occupancy when best practice would be a maximum 90% occupancy.
Fasting guidelines are six hours solid food, four hours fluids but vulnerable patients are often given intravenous fluids to keep stomach empty pre operatively.

@BananaHarvest those are not the current fasting guidelines (6hrs for solids & milky drinks, 2 hrs for clear fluids, 4 hrs for breast milk). We wouldn't routinely start iv fluids on someone able to take oral fluids - they should be allowed to drink during the day if they've come in early for an all day list.

A cancellation late in the day is more likely to be because there's been a problem/complication with someone further up the list than because of lack of beds. Doesn't make it any less frustrating for the one that ends up postponed, but somethings really are beyond control.

@the OP - hope your dad gets another date soon.

To answer your question OP not much if my dad’s experience is anything to go by. He waited just short of 2 years from the time he was first listed for surgery but did eventually have his operation at the 4th attempt. Even this was touch and go until the very last minute.
To be fair the first couple of cancellations didn’t cause any major problems (other than his condition became worse, more difficult to live with and more difficult to correct) because they were notified well in advance. The third time however he had been fully prepped for theatre only to be told that there was no bed available for him. Because it was by now a complicated operation he was the only patient on the surgeon’s list that morning so the cost of the cancellation to the NHS was enormous. It was also costly to my dad because as an insulin dependent diabetic he had been without food , his usual insulin doses and some of his other prescribed medicines for many hours and by the time it was decided that his operation would have to be cancelled his blood sugars were sky high.
When he asked how long it was likely to be before he was called in again he was told that this had to be within 28 days to comply with regulations . In his case it was longer than this, but this was his choice and with the agreement of the surgeon, who was happy to disregard the rules that were meant to be followed.
Before anyone thinks that this must have been a minor operation it certainly wasn’t, Dad was in theatre for just short of 5 hours and remained in hospital for a week afterwards. The daft thing is that if his surgery had taken place when he was first listed it would have been a relatively minor operation, he would have been home the next day and his recovery would have been quicker.

Before anyone thinks that this was a minor operation it certainly wasn’t, he was in theatre for almost 5 hours, and was in hospital for a week after. To be fair
He is an insulin dependent diabetic and when the operation was cancelled for the second time he had been without food for a good many hours When the operation was cancelled for the 2nd time we did ask what would happen next