Long wait for surgery unacceptable

Nolan Pillay, Farrarmere, writes:

I was booked for shoulder surgery on July 4 at Life The Glynnwood Hospital. I got to the hospital around 06:30.

When I arrived, I asked the nurse what time I would go into the theatre, and she said 14:00. I never expected this. I would have checked in at around 11:00.

At around 15:00, I asked what was happening. The ward sister told me the doctor was still busy with three emergency cases. Not once during the day did the doctor or the nurses come and advise me about this delay.
I decided to wait a little longer until it was 18:00, and I still hadn’t heard from the doctor.

A nurse said the doctor did operations till midnight, so I must hang in there. My mental state at this point had pushed me to a point where I was no longer ready for the procedure. I thought the doctor would be tired, and he could easily make a mistake, then what… who is to blame?

At this point, it had been 21 hours since I had eaten anything, no water, nothing at all. I did not eat from 19:00 the previous day and followed all procedures, including taking injections for five days.
I was dehydrated, picked up a massive headache and started to feel dizzy.

My question would be, if they knew there would be huge delays, surely they would have allowed me to have water to at least stay hydrated. I asked them many times, but they left me in the room the entire day and said I could not have anything.

It reached the point where I decided enough was enough. At 18:43, I signed a form they gave me and walked out. I lost a day of work due to this mess up.
Until now, no one at the hospital or even the doctor has called to explain or apologise.

Editor’s note: Life The Glynnwood Hospital responded: “It is standard practice for specialists in private hospitals, who are independent practitioners, to request patients be admitted in the morning of a procedure. This ensures the clinical administration and other clinical duties are completed to ready patients for theatre.

Delays in theatre do occur when surgical cases take longer than expected or when complications arise. Emergency surgeries are also given priority over elective surgeries, which may cause delays in scheduled surgeries. The doctor, unfortunately, had to re-prioritise some of his cases. The unit manager and the doctors’ rooms were in contact with Mr Pillay when it became evident there would be a delay to his expected theatre time. It was anticipated that the procedure would take place at about 18:00, which was declined by Mr Pillay, who subsequently signed the refusal of hospital treatment (RHT) and went home.

In delayed cases such as these, our nursing staff monitor patients’ vitals closely. If they feel the patient’s health is at risk, a decision is made to hydrate them and order something for them to eat. The procedure is then postponed to the next day or another date according to the specialist’s availability. The doctors’ rooms were in contact with Mr Pillay to apologise for the inconvenience and to reschedule the surgery, which he declined,” the statement read.

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