Gransnet forums

Health

Adult congenital heart surgery.

(10 Posts)
rubylady Fri 03-Feb-17 19:22:19

I had requested to my cardiologist to be referred to Liverpool Heart and Lung Hospital for pre testing and surgery to my broken heart.

He phoned me this morning and told me that this hospital does not deal with adult congenital heart surgery and that I will have to go to Manchester instead. Therefore I agreed to this on this understanding.

I have just phoned the Liverpool Hospital and asked them do they do this type of surgery and she told me that they did, giving me a direct number to call on Monday to speak to someone on the team who deals with it.

Can anyone shed any light on why a consultant would say what he said when it doesn't appear to be the truth? Do consultants get paid from hospitals for referrals?

I have no faith in this consultant anyway as I have presented with these symptoms for over four years and he has done diddly squat about it, leaving it to my GP to find out that I needed surgery.

Thank you. X

annsixty Fri 03-Feb-17 19:35:56

If you have to go to Manchester it's a wonderful centre for heart surgery and I will visit you as often as possible, so be positive and I hope it is soon. Wythenshawe in particular has a worldwide reputation for heart surgery.

Luckygirl Fri 03-Feb-17 19:48:14

It would be very odd for a consultant to lie about this sort of thing. I cannot see any reason why he should. Why not wait and see what response you get when you ring the direct line on Monday? It may be that your particular problem is not catered for there.

I can see no financial incentive/advantage to the consultant telling you this.

It is a concern that you have no faith in this consultant and it is a good thing that your surgery needs to take place elsewhere.

But you can also ask for a change of your cardiologist in your own area. That is a very reasonable request if you have lost faith in him.

It is good to see ann's post and for you to know that if Manchester is the choice, she will be able to support you - and I know that support will here for you in bucketloads.

rubylady Fri 03-Feb-17 20:34:33

Ann, your post made me cry. It's hard going through all this on my own. X

Antonia Fri 03-Feb-17 20:42:50

Rubylady it must be very hard for you right now. Perhaps the consultant thought that Manchester was a better option for the kind of problems you are having. Wherever you do go, I hope that everything goes very well for you.

Cherrytree59 Fri 03-Feb-17 20:49:00

Ruby so sorry that you are having to battle both your heart condition and the system.
Well done you for getting in touch with Liverpool hospital
Many people would just have taken what the consultant said as correct.
I am sad that you are having to go through this by yourself.
It was indeed so thoughtful of Ann to offer her support.
I'm sure things will work out for you Ruby
Please let us know how your phone call goes on Monday.
flowers

morethan2 Fri 03-Feb-17 21:16:09

Rubylady I have relatives who live in Manchester and know whythenshaw hospital well. It's a really good hospital with a very good reputation. The staff have always been wonderful. Let us know how you get on. Good luck, chin up.

SueDonim Fri 03-Feb-17 22:06:08

I'm sorry you're having such difficult health problems, Rubylady. It's a concern that you don't have faith in your consultant. Do you have any possibility of seeing someone else?

It may be that your current consultant feels the hospital he has recommended is a better choice for your particular problem. Have you looked up information about the two hospitals, to see if one has better outcomes than the other?

A neighbour's 30yo grandson with CHD last year travelled to a hospital nearly 150 miles away for a major operation, because that hospital had much more experience with his particular condition. I'm happy to report he's now on a 3mth trip round the world!

Best of luck with your op.

rubylady Sat 04-Feb-17 02:33:28

Thank you for your support, I will be fine after a sleep. I got in touch with The British Heart Foundation today and there is a meeting soon nearby so I will try to go to that and talk with others who have been through surgery or suffer in some way.

On a positive note though today, I have got the all clear on my latest smear and have been discharged from the women's clinic, so yeah! And my tooth doesn't need to come out just yet, yeah again! ?

rubylady Sun 05-Feb-17 02:37:01

Feeling better today, and now that I have a clean bill of health from the gynae department, then I think it's about time I got back on the ?! Lock up your husbands! Lol X