Cancellations

Good news adaunas, fingers crossed for a quick recovery. What do you mean when you say 1/2 the op went ahead?

Good news adaunas Get well soon Mr adaunas

Jolly good. Hope he makes a swift recovery.

Today, hooray! 1/2 the op went ahead. Some awful stories on here but the strangest thing I heard was "he never mentioned he was in pain" at the hospital(s). So what did they think he had been given codeine and naproxen for?

Thoughout the coalition government hospitals were under heavy pressure to "increase bed occupancy" - in other words, reduce the number of beds. At the same time demand has been going up. (Ageing population, which everyone has known about for decades) Of course you cannot achieve 99% occupancy - demand for beds varies around the year for instance.
Admin in the NHS can be less than great - but the salaries paid to admin staff are terrible and there has been political pressure to reduce admin/management costs further. So no surprise then that the basic admin can suffer from poor management.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3461217/Hospitals-refusing-vital-cancer-scans-Thousands-patients-diagnosed-later-tests-rationed-cut-costs-claim-GPs.html

dreadful situation

My mum has had two procedures and several outpatient appointments cancelled over the past few months, not to mention being left for 3 days with a severely broken leg. Things have got so bad that she has been admitted for a problem that could have/should have been solved months ago. She is now very poorly and I can't help but feel she has been neglected.

It's usually to do with beds. There's so much competition for beds and when one becomes available, a decision is made about which patient from a group waiting gets it. Emergency admissions have to be managed alongside normal admissions.

As an emergency admission, last year I spent 5 days on an A&E ward waiting for a bed on the neurology ward. A&E beds are for short term patients and I saw beds used for at least 5 patients in a 24 hour period. The disruption made sleep impossible, especially as some patients were very noisy e.g. they were drunk, on drugs, angry or upset and shouting. Some patients were like me, waiting to get moved to the relevant ward.

Once you get a bed you stay in it and are wheeled everywhere. Fingers crossed your husband gets a bed today and his surgery goes ahead.

That's awful, so stressful for you both. Sadly, it's not a new thing - about twenty years ago, a friend of a friend had got as far as being wheeled into theatre for heart surgery only for it to be cancelled, and that was his third time, too.

I do hope your DH has success today and makes a speedy recovery