Operation cancelled

[Huddy]

Hi

My partner got a phone call this morning to tell him that his ankle operation for tomorrow is cancelled due to a clerical error and to be rescheduled for the 8th Jan. I'm a teacher so I would have been home for the holidays to care for him.

If I start at the beginning the OH was mountaining biking in September 05 and landed badly on his bike - I left work and picked him up his ankle was swollen and he couldn't walk. We went to A&E and he was told he had badly sprained his ankle and needed to walk on it asap. He couldn't walk on it and the ankle was still very bad after 2 weeks. We went back to the hospital to see a physio who confirmed it was sprained - OH insisted on an xray which didn't show anything. We went to Oh's private phsio who said he suspected in was fractured and that he should not walk on it as this would mean permanent damage. The private physio gave him a proctective air boot to keep the ankle still. He also said he woud need an MRI as this would show fractures.

By December 05 his ankle was no better and he still couldn't walk - we went to the GP and insisted he had an MRI. In March OH finally gets an MRI and low and behold he has fractured his ankle and knocked some bone off called OCD (not obessive complulsive disorder). He was then told this may heal by itself and the bone grow back and he would have to wait. OH insisted on a 2nd opinion and was invited to a hospital in West London (we're in E Sussex) who confirm he would need operating on.

In Nov he received an appointment to operate on th 21st Dec - we thought this was odd as due to previous experience we thought all non essential operations are stopped. On December 8th OH had his pre-op and spoke to the operating surgeon who said he would see him in a couple of weeks.

This morning OH has spoken to the hospital the 1st woman said many operations had been cancelled but he spoke to someone else who said his was the operation to be cancelled. He has just got off the phone to the complaints officer and I was listening said OH was being abusive as OH said he felt the hospital was feeding him a pack of lies. No way was he abusive yes he was annoyed but that is due to the poor service and communication.

So where do we go next?

Thank you for reading

[craigwalsh]

OH was being abusive
This seems to be a fairly standard NHS approach. Instead of addressing the problems, it's easier to say, "You're being abusive." It's like NHS checkmate. Once you've been tagged as "abusive," you're a non-person.

The story you relate is awful. File a formal complaint. But don't expect much joy.

I started this website because my formal complaints weren't treated with much care and attention by the NHS. The Chief Executive of the Worcester Royal Hospital, John Rostill, actually misplaced my complaints for over a month.

It just made me feel good to write about my bad experiences with the NHS, even if nobody read them. I named names --- that made me feel even better.

[Whtetopaz]

ah..the being abusive.

I too was labelled abusive -when I quite rightly said that I thought it was a bag of crap that an urgent referral to a respiratory physician had not been made after a spirometry showed I had about 50% of normal lung function(with no good reason _- I do not smoke, young, exercised regulalry - then suddenly there I was struggling to breathe ). Someone forgot to write the letter.

When I complained -in tears by this time -scared and feeling rough _ I was told "you are abusive -we will not deal with you." I wasn;t abuisve -merely justifiably angry -but we are not allowed to be angry....

makes me MAD

[craigwalsh]

you are abusive -we will not deal with you

There it is again --- the checkmate.

I think we should now all video tape our experiences with the NHS so impartial observers can see that we're not being abusive. Just (as you say) legitimately angry.

One can be angry without being abusive. But by saying "you are abusive," they don't have to deal with you.

[Renal]

[quote]By December 05 his ankle was no better and he still couldn't walk - we went to the GP and insisted he had an MRI. In March OH finally gets an MRI and low and behold he has fractured his ankle and knocked some bone off called OCD (not obessive complulsive disorder). He was then told this may heal by itself and the bone grow back and he would have to wait. OH insisted on a 2nd opinion and was invited to a hospital in West London (we're in E Sussex) who confirm he would need operating on.So, as far as your concerned the surgeon who choose conservative management for Osteochondritis Dissecans which is almost universally recomended (there is some evidence to support internal fixation in juvenile OCD) you believe that the surgeon who chose operative management to be correct?