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Care Opinion

Cancellation, being far from home and stranded

Posted By monoceroshy75

"Cancellation, being far from home and stranded"

About: Bunbury Hospital

(as the patient),

I was outside theatre and ready to be wheeled in when the surgeon said there was an emergency. Back in the cubicle with nurses going back to find out what was happening, I asked if I could go after the emergency or go into a ward and have my operation the next morning. I was then told I have been cancelled and to get dressed and go home. Ringing everyone I knew I was unable to find anyone to pick me up. A member of staff suggested a taxi voucher but living two and a bit hours away it was not an option. A volunteer driver was organised and I was driven home. 

My thanks to all the staff for their assistance - they were wonderful.

The problem:

I arrived in Bunbury by a community car the day before as surgery was first thing in the morning so I stayed at hotel accommodation overnight and took a taxi to the hospital early.

I wondered if it was possible to cancel surgery for someone who lived closer to the hospital as I lived so far away,

But I don't know about scheduling or theatre times so my suggestion may not be reasonable.

Again my thanks to all the staff before and after cancellation. Very kind and caring people.

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Responses

Response from Glen Matters, Operations Manager Bunbury Hospital, WACHS South West 4 years ago
Glen Matters
Operations Manager Bunbury Hospital,
WACHS South West

Submitted on 14/07/2019 at 5:22 PM
Published on Care Opinion on 15/07/2019 at 8:55 AM

picture of Glen Matters

Dear monoceroshy75

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback around your surgery cancellation. It is never ideal when we have to cancel surgery but at times it does happen due to more urgent / emergency cases that we have no notice around. We are doing some work with our theatre allocations and looking at ways to reduce the number of cancellations by having more dedicated emergency theatre access currently and hope this means less people are impacted as you were.

I appreciate how difficult and inconvenient it was for you when you had travelled to Bunbury for the surgery and then needed transport home and I am pleased to hear staff assisted in supporting you.

Your suggestion to look at where patients that have to be cancelled are from, and how to reduce this situation happening for others is a good one, and something we need to look at. It is good to get feedback to guide us in looking at ways to improve how we support patients to get the services they need and once again thank you for taking the time to post this story.

If you would like to discuss your experience or have any other concerns please get in touch with our Customer Liaison Officer on 9722 1521.

Regards

Glen Matters

Operations Manager Bunbury Hospital

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