Fuming at 71 year old's 10 hour wait at NGH

[Strix]

sometimes an operation on the list takes longer than expected, or an emergency arises and this means sometimes that operations are cancelled. Operating staff do have homes to go to you know, and cannot be expected to stay till whatever time to finish the list. I certainly wouldnt want my operation done by a theatre team who had already been working solidly for over 12 hours

You'd probably have enough of a splitting headache from dehydration that you wouldn't know or wouldn't care. Nobody is suggesting that this lady should have been operated on at whatever the late hour was, but that she shouldn't have been left in this state for this period of time - sending her home sooner was an option right from the outset

[FreddyJunior]

This is an absolute disgrace and seen in NHS hospitals all over the country. Maybe Mr Cameron will be telling us that we can afford to loose more money from the NHS too!!

[scottf]

YOU try not eating or drinking for 24hrs, and sitting in the same chair for 10 hours - I bet you'll be very uncomfortable and somewhat irritable

 

The very least they could have done is let her know sooner that the op wouldn't happen, and let her go home sooner

 

Did you even read my post? I did sit there from 6am till 5pm very thirsty but I realised that if someone had been rushed into hospital and needed surgery to save there life then it's not really fair to kick off and demand surgery.

 

What if the operation before hers had serious complications so they didn't know until the last minute that they couldnt do it?

 

People always have a go at the nhs like they do these things on purpose but they always try there best but sometimes it doesn't work exactly as planned!! No need to complain to the daily mail!

[scottf]

scottf

no excuses.they should have enough staff to deal with emergency and scheduled ops.will somebody post on here how many private ops were cancelled.NONE

 

So that means having more surgeons in the hospital at all times, I wonder who is going to pay for all these extra surgeons?

 

You can't have someone there "just in case" imagine how much that would cost!!

 

As for private operations, whoever said there was any private operations anyway?

[molly44]

my own experience was no better i am afraid, i am not complaining though, because i am only 42 and although i was very ill and thought i was having a heart attack at the time ( i am at high risk ). i was left on my own in a normal chair in the corridor outside the A&E for six hours before i doctor came, the nurses did their best to check i was ok, only after the bloods came back did they eventually put me into a ward. its the strain they are under theses days, and its only going to get worse this winter. i hope i stay well throughout that period! i cant think of how bad things will be

[confusedmum]

emergencys do happen and nothing can be done about it. the hospital may have the staff for the emergencys and planned ops but you need to remember that along with the staff you need a clean theatre. something that is limited.

 

how would you feel if you or someone you love had an accident and needed an emergency op to be told " sorry we cant save yours life we have a list"

 

yes its annoying having to go nill by mouth for 24hrs (ive had to do it twice in the last few weeks) but its not the hospitals fault.

[jediwarrior]

this sounds about right for the NGH i used to work there and was shocked at what i saw and how they treat and ignore patients.

[Plain Talker]

scottf

no excuses.they should have enough staff to deal with emergency and scheduled ops.will somebody post on here how many private ops were cancelled.NONE

 

rubbish. If an emergency arises, you can't expect the staff to tell the emergency to "Stuff off" (In a manner of speaking) till they've dealt with the scheduled cases!

 

If it's an emergency that came in, then they obviously have to take priority, and deal with that. It can't be helped.

 

Yes it's rotten unfair on the elderly lady in question. but if an emergency needed dealing with, what can they do?

 

I was taken down for my heart surgery last year, and just as they got me into the theatre, they had to drag my trolley back out in a proper rush, as the lady who had been in before me had some emergency where she had to be taken back in to be "re-done", as she was absolutely pouring blood.

 

How could I, reasonably, turn to the team that were saving that lady's life, and say "Oi, leave HER alone, it's MY slot, now!!!!!"

 

I had to wait till the next day (I was also an emergency admission, but her bleed, at that moment in time, was more threatening to her life than my condition was to me.) where I got my surgery, though it was touch-and-go whether I got taken down to theatre that day, too. Thank God they found a time where they could slot me onto the end of the day's surgeries.

 

I have nothing but praise for the Northern General when they looked after me during this frightening time last year. The staff were absolute gems.

[Minimo]

I think we can all appreciate that unexpected events will sometimes throw out a preplanned arranged op, but what is unforgiveable is that a 71 year old woman is left in a hard upright chair, totally ignored for 10 hours.

 

Surely it wouldn't be too hard to have someone on duty who can see that this kind of thing doesn't happen. A more comfortable easy chair, and the odd cup of tea would have made all the difference to her.

[Plain Talker]

my own experience was no better i am afraid, i am not complaining though, because i am only 42 and although i was very ill and thought i was having a heart attack at the time ( i am at high risk ). i was left on my own in a normal chair in the corridor outside the A&E for six hours before i doctor came, the nurses did their best to check i was ok, only after the bloods came back did they eventually put me into a ward. its the strain they are under theses days, and its only going to get worse this winter. i hope i stay well throughout that period! i cant think of how bad things will be

 

I have absolutely no complaints about the care I received at the Northern when I was in last year. (well, the food, but , meh, it's a hospital, and that goes without saying, doesn't it?)

 

When I collapsed, last year, and needed heart surgery, the ambulance was called, and arrived within minutes of the call. the staff got me to the A&E at the Nor-Gen, and I was taken into resus, and wired up to the heart monitors.

 

They then phoned the ward for a monitored bed for me, (that is, a bed where there was a machine I could be attached to which records the heartbeat and what-have-you),. Then, within a couple of hours, I was taken up to the ward, and looked after wonderfully.

 

I had to remain attached to the monitors for a week, whilst I was in there, having my surgery, and then recovering.