A Ridiculous Waiting Time

Yesterday, I had to check in at my local NHS hospital at the required time of 7:30 a.m. for surgery to remove a metal plate from my arm, one of two plates that had been inserted a couple of years ago after I broke my elbow. For two-and-a-half hours, I was the only person in my six-bed ward. At around 10:30, other people started trickling in. The nurse told me I took first priority, and would be operated on at 12:30 p.m. Then it was 1:00. Then 2:00. (In the meantime, as it was day patient surgery, they were taking other people from my ward to get their procedures done.) I was understandably irate that I had been required to be there at 7:30, that patients that had gotten there three hours later were being treated before me, etc. The nurse periodically called surgery, and they said 3:00, then 3:30, then 4:00, then 5:00. By then, everyone else who'd been on my ward that day, except for one person, had been treated and had gone. I was gobsmacked. I told the nurse to tell them that I'd had my limit and was going home. (Bear in mind I'd had nothing to drink since 10:00 the night before.)

FINALLY, at 5:45, it was my turn and the anesthesiologist put a line in me and inserted one source of liquid, which he said I'd feel coursing through my vein, and then another one, which he said would be warm and relaxing but felt as if it were acid in my arm (VERY painful), which I cried out about. He or his assistant removed that line and that's the last thing I remember before being awoken after surgery.

It was almost 9:00 by then, my husband was waiting for me, and they wanted to keep me overnight for surveillance. There was a new set of both patients and nurses on the ward when I came back, including a lady next to me who kept screaming and throwing water and juice at the nurse (the nurse went off at her, but that's a different story.) They wanted to keep me for three-hour surveillance, thus overnight, but I insisted on going home. I'd had enough of that room, and I wasn't going to try to sleep next to a ranting banshee, although I did feel for her, whatever was wrong. The doctor had the nurse make me sign a waiver freeing the hospital of any future charges of negligence if something happened after I'd refused their advice. So I finally got home (exhausted), ate something, checked email and then here, and, to end my day, got in a silly PM squabble with one of the self-appointed site spokespeople on here who'd written a cut about me on one of the links. So you culd say the day didn't rank high on the enjoyability scale. Just a vent. 

I feel for you, I hate waiting.  I never would have waited so long, I would have been out of there at noon.  Hope your elbow feels better.

I had a very similiar incident in ERI on Friday. I wasn't allowed to drive after
my op. My friend took the day off work and we left home at 5am to be there
for 8. Well come 2 o'clock I was allowed up and was walking around.

Nurse: You can get out of the gown now and put your jammies on.
ME: Uh no this a day care thing, I am going home.
Nurse: Oh no you must stay the night,
ME: No I am going home.
Nurse: Oh no you're not,
ME: Sorry mam but I will be going home.
Nurse: Well will just see about that and she went off in a hump.

Well a moment or two later the the consultant was walking past and and said how are you,
ME: well I said not good,
Consultant: why
ME: they say I have to stay the night.
Consultant: Who told you that?
ME: The nurse,
then with a wave while still walking through the ward he said, no you can go home.

I was getting dressed when the nurse came back in, and
Nurse: what are you doing?
ME: I'm getting dressed, I will be going home.
Nurse: The consultant was busy, we'll get an answer later
I reported my conversation with the consultant.
Nurse: Well we'll see. That's highly irregular. Our policy is everyone stays over.

I finished getting dressed, another nurse came and took care of me till my ride came to get me.

OMG Suzanne that is awful - I can't believe you hadn't eaten or drank anything since the night before!  How can they expect you to wait until 5pm?  And there was no reason they gave you for this kind of delay?

I'm sorry you've had a bad experience Suzanne.

Is it possible they may have had some emergency surgeries that had to take priority?  Not trying to be unsympathetic to your waiting time.

Is it possible they may have had some emergency surgeries that had to take priority?  Not trying to be unsympathetic to your waiting time.

That's what I was wondering. Fair enough if people came in after you who needed urgent treatment. Otherwise ... I'd have been furious!! Have you asked what the reasons were for that huge wait? Whatever the reason, I do sympathise. It's no fun waiting around in hospitals, ERs, etc.

So sorry to hear about this, Suzanne.  There's no excuse for making you wait that long, especially without an explanation.  I would file a complaint with the hospital and the local health authority.  I hope the surgery went well and that you're on the road to a speedy recovery.

I'd have walked out.

That's too long to go w/o drinking something.

They didn't have any logical reasons. One nurse told me they's had problems with some instruments early in the morning. Another nurse told me they were rearranging the schedule to do the more-invasive ones last (does that make sense)? When my surgeon came in to do his pre-op surgey and told me it would be 3:00 (that was after I'd most recently been told 1:30), I asked him why and he didn't reply. He just repeated himself: "3:00." The only reason I waited was because I didn't want to wait yet another who-knows-how-long waiting for another chance. I'm supposed to have hip surgery sometime in July, so now I'm really worried how that's going to go.

I would file a complaint with the hospital and the local health authority.  I hope the surgery went well and that you're on the road to a speedy recovery.

I would too!

Suzanne, very sorry you had that ordeal. Unreal, complete incompetence.   

They didn't have any logical reasons. One nurse told me they's had problems with some instruments early in the morning. Another nurse told me they were rearranging the schedule to do the more-invasive ones last (does that make sense)? When my surgeon came in to do his pre-op surgey and told me it would be 3:00 (that was after I'd most recently been told 1:30), I asked him why and he didn't reply. He just repeated himself: "3:00." The only reason I waited was because I didn't want to wait yet another who-knows-how-long waiting for another chance. I'm supposed to have hip surgery sometime in July, so now I'm really worried how that's going to go.

You would think, as medical professionals, they would have realized how long it was really going to be and at least offered for you to reschedule - you can't have someone not eat or drink for so long!!

You were far more patient than I would have been.  I probably would have walked stormed out at about 2:00.

Hope that you're at least recovering quickly!

I had a massive row with a friend last night who works for New Labour...he insisted that the NHS is in a better state than it has ever been, and that patients are happy.

Any of you guys want to relay your experiences to the health secretary, your MP, or Mr Blair himself, just to show these morons in government that they are looking at things through rose-tinted specs....?



Victoria

I'm very sorry you had such a horrible experience.  Like others said, I'd file a complaint.

I used to work as a nurse on a day surgery unit and it used to drive me nuts when they would do this to patients.  They give the nurse on the ward a list of patients for operations that day.  The first person on the list is supposed to go first, and they are told to come in at 0800.  The second person on the list is supposed to go second etc etc.  Sometimes they just tell them all to come in at 0800.  Or they tell the first 8 people to come at 0800 and the second half of the list to come at 1300 hours. 

Then the theatre staff decides to mess with the list order and not tell the ward nurse.  So instead of coming for patient number one first, they come for patient number 4 first.   This throws things into a complete mess.  Instead of following the list in order, they suddenly decide to go completely out of order for their own reasons.   They rarely communicate to the ward staff why they are doing this and what the new plan is.  Sucks. Typical NHS snafu communication.

One day I had a guy who was first on the list and he came in at 0800 as he was told.  At 0815 they came for patient number 4, then it was patient number 6 then they came for patient number 3.  They had decided to play around with the list once again without telling anybody what they were doing.  This poor man sat there until 1700 before he was called to go down.  I don't know why they decided to go out of order. 

Finally his turn came at 1700 and we were getting ready to send him down, then theatre called to say that they had an emergency and that they would not be able to take any more cases that day, so this guy would be cancelled.  This poor man sat there from 0800 to 1700 with nothing to eat or drink and then he was cancelled. He was livid and so was I.  I spent a lot of time on the phone with the staff down in theatre to find out when the hell they were going to take him as he was first on the list, but they couldn't say.  I left there and went back to medical nursing not long after.